Lost and Found
by NotJana
Summary: After Sunnydale collapsed, Buffy has rebuilt her life and is happy. Until tragedy strikes and her life is turned upside down once more, only this time it's on a much more personal level. Crossover with House MD, real family fic.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer_: I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. No profit will be made

_Summary_: After Sunnydale collapsed, Buffy has rebuilt her life and is happy. Until the PTB decided only an unhappy Slayer is a good Slayer and her life is turned upside down once more, only this time it's on a much more personal level. Crossover with House MD.

_A/N:_ Story takes place a few years after Sunnydale collapsed for BTVS and starts around the beginning of season 4 of House MD. Main character will be Buffy and the cast of House MD. The prologue sets the scene, explains quite a bit of background - including how I see the aftermath of Sunnydale. Italics indicate Buffy's thoughts.

* * *

**Prologue**

Buffy was standing motionless on her small private roof terrace, watching the sunrise. Anyone happing to see her from afar, would have thought her to be a statue as not a single muscle was moving. Yet her brain was working overtime.

--

_**Four years ago the first evil appeared for the first time. And everything changed.**_

--

Almost laughing out loud, bitterly, Buffy thought back to that time.

_She had just come back from the dead. Been ripped out from what she considered to be heaven. Sometimes, when she closed her eyes, she could still remember and feel the peace she was at there. Then, soon after she had come back and been forced to adapt to her life again, the First Evil made its entrance into her world. She and her friends had fought hard to keep it at bay. And they had lost so much during that fight. But they had won. Again._

_Repairing the damage had taken so much longer though. Having been thrown out of her own house before the final battle had hurt Buffy more than she could tell. Still, she had come back and had forgiven her friends. At least until the war was over. Then, even though they had won, even though they all had lost friends during the final battle, when she finally had time to think again, the resentment towards her friends had come back._

_But this time, she didn't back down or bury it deep inside just so she wouldn't hurt them. This time, she had made her feelings known, being surprised herself how much it still hurt, and all of them had made amendments. It might have been painful at first, but in the end they had been able to make a true new start with no bad feelings remaining. _

_And they had been busy. Suddenly there were hundreds of new Slayers emerging around the world. With the old Watcher's Council gone to provide training or any sort of advice to them, a solution had to be found. And fast. Apparently Buffy wasn't the only one to think so. Soon after Sunnydale had found its violent end, they had been approached by the few watchers that had survived due to being scattered around the world. _

_Even though both Buffy and Giles had left the Council a while ago, they had been the ones fighting at the front line. The ones with the most experience. The ones knowing best what was needed. Recognising this, the remaining watchers had asked them to take charge and rebuild the Council. Or maybe because they couldn't be bothered with the hassle involved. Most of them had liked where they at that time – in the field._

_At first, neither of them had been pleased with that prospect. But after discussing it with Faith and the other remaining Scoobies, they had realised how big a chance it was for making a better life for the new slayers. Or rather, for making a life for them in the first place._

_As there wasn't much left of the London headquarter, they first went to Rome were they council had another, smaller, office. Then they did what they had perfected through so many years together. They had researched every single aspect of the old council. Which of the watchers were still alive. What resources were at hand for them to use – which, luckily, turned out to be plenty. How to best localise the new slayers – and what to do with them. What new threats might arise from the new situation. And so on, and so on._

_It had taken many sleepless nights of planning and scheming, but within a couple of month the new International Watcher's Council, IWC for short, had been founded and was taking form, although it would take several more month to get everything they had planned. It was agreed the headquarter was to return to London to its old place as the property contained many resources – some men-built, others supernatural – to just abandon it. However, with the new influx of slayers – several hundreds of them – they were also setting up regional headquarters around the world. _

_Most importantly, new rules, or rather guidelines, had been thought up and implemented. This time around, the slayers were given a choice of what they were going to do with their calling. Each of them was offered, and encouraged, to take part in a several week long boot-camp at any of the new regional headquarters. This would give them the basic information they'd need to adjust to their new abilities, including the importance of keeping them quiet. Then, if they chose, they could stay there and continue their slayer education while attending a local school to finish that path of education as well. In fact, Buffy had been quite adamant in that respect. _

_As it turned out, only potentials of a certain age had been called as slayers. The youngest being 13, the oldest having just turned 18. Also, as time passed by, they had realised the number of slayers wasn't rising and rising but stayed at a more or less constant level. It seemed like either the old rule of a new slayer being called upon the death of another one had reinstated itself or the number of potentials had simply adjusted to the new development. In the end, only time would tell which of these theories was true. _

_Also, with the discovered funds – and there was still another property or shareholding popping up from time to time – slayers were now paid according to their work. If they decided to work for the IWC, a proper contract was drawn up, containing the details of their employment. Moreover, most of the remaining watchers of the old council had voted for the Sunnydale crew to have their payment back-dated for all the time they had fought on the frontline, making for a nice and unexpected lump sum for all of them._

_As Dawn had wanted to stay in Rome to finish her high school education at an international school, Buffy did too and helped reorganise the IWC from their base there. But while Willow, Xander, Faith and Robin decided to now work full-time for the IWC around the world, Buffy was dividing her time between the IWC and her wish – no, need – to do something else. The last seven years had left her drained and mentally exhausted and with the new slayers raising, she had finally time to step back a bit and learn to live somewhat normal again. _

_The first step had been her enrolling in a course at the Sapienza University of Rome. After much contemplation and talks with her friends she had finally decided on doing a bachelor degree in physiotherapy. With the fight going on, there would always be a need for this profession within the IWC but she also had the opportunity to work somewhere else. _

--

Now, watching the sun slowly rise over the roofs of Rome, Buffy knew it had been the right decision.

--

_**Three years ago I met Mark.**_

--

Her thoughts continuing at fast speed, she thought back to that fateful day that had changed her life so completely.

_It had been during her first year at the university. Mark had been one of the instructors in their course, when they hard started to apply the first learned techniques on each other. _

_Being a few years older than most of her fellow students, who started this course usually directly after finishing high school, and oh so much more experienced in the thing called life, Buffy had had some difficulties finding friends in her course. Working for the IWC while not studying hadn't helped either, as she only had managed to juggle both responsibilities thanks to her lesser need for sleep and therefore had no time at all for socialising._

_Still, she had picked things up much easier then most. Willow thought that the slayer in her helped with it, or rather the body awareness that came with it. And Buffy had to agree. It had turned out to help tremendously in remembering the human physiology. Well, apart from the correct names, that is. She still had managed to massacre almost every name for said parts, but she was getting better. Or so she had thought._

_After the second day of their first practical, Mark had taken her aside and offered to help her studying. In the beginning Buffy had been quite hesitant, but when he had started to smile openly and admitted that he was afraid of inappropriately breaking out laughing if she mangled just one more name, she had returned his smile. And accepted his offer._

_They had started out meeting twice a week and study. It had turned out to not only help Buffy's grades but his joy of life started to affect Buffy positively as well. Soon they had not only been studying but talking about family and life in general as well. Or just enjoying each others company._

_He had told her about is family. All related by blood. All, but one of his cousins, considering him the black sheep of the family. All, but one, breaking off all contact with him. And he had told her how he couldn't care less about it. He was happy with his friends, his profession, his life. Besides, if he would have catered to their wishes, he would never have met Buffy._

_She had told him about her family. A couple related by blood, most chosen by life. She told him about those she had lost. He had held her when she had shed some more tears for them, even though she had thought herself all cried out already. She had found comfort in the normality of him._

_And then they were dating. It wasn't something any of them had planned, but as it came so naturally, they weren't going to question it either. It just felt right._

--

Remembering the gentleness of their first kiss now, Buffy lifted her face into the morning sun and, closing her eyes, let the gently warmth of the sun chase the morning chill away.

--

_**Two years ago I told him about my slayer-ness and he didn't run away.**_

--

_It had been just after Dawn had left Rome for the land of tweed to study something along the lines of ancient languages and mythology in Oxford. That was something Buffy had been quite adamant about. Dawn could join the IWC if she really wanted to, but first she had to go and enjoy student life. Buffy's experience of it had only been short and she didn't want to rob her sister of yet another so-called normal thing._

_It had been just after Buffy moved out of their Rome headquarter and into her own little apartment, paid for with the money she got for her work as slayer. Lovingly fixed up and refurbished by Buffy and Dawn – no men allowed. _

_It hadn't been a special day or occasion. Although she had found a small nest of vampires on her patrol, she hadn't been injured while taken care of them. Her clothes hadn't been ripped either, yet when she arrived at her apartment and found him sleeping peacefully in her bed, she had woken him gently and told her story. _

_He hadn't interrupted her, but held her when she had struggled to explain. He hadn't talked for a long time after her revelations, yet he hadn't let go of her either. Then he had kissed her forehead, saying only one word. _

_Okay._

_And he had accepted it. No questions asked but the promise given to listen whenever she needed to talk. The promise to hold her whenever she needed to be held. The promise to not let it interfere with their relationship._

_He had kept all of his promises. He had become part of the family._

--

Vampires and the other creatures of the night would be settling in for the day now, the sun already being too strong for them. The city would be relatively safe until sunset. And human monsters weren't hers to hunt.

--

_**One year ago we moved in together.**_

--

_It had only been natural. Despite Buffy still patrolling on a regular basis, mostly to supervise the slayers from their school in Rome, they rarely spent a night in different beds. So when Mark's landlord had asked him to move out as he needed the apartment for personal reasons, he had moved in with Buffy. _

_He had still made sure she didn't massacre the medical terms too badly, had helped her studying for her exams. For her, his help was what was getting her through the exams. For him, her natural ability for the subject was what was getting her through. Apparently having injured a wide array of bones, tendons and muscles throughout her slayer career gave her a very good understanding on human anatomy. _

_Then, when fate had decided to kick her right in the gut again, he had stood by her, listened to her, held her whenever needed. _

_While going through a newly discovered archive of the old Watcher's Council in London, Giles had come across papers that literally made him sick. After recovering from the initial shock, he came to Rome to talk with Buffy about it._

_No, it wasn't another apocalypse. Or another prophecy predicting her death. No, it was entirely men-made. Or rather, council-made. They had, once more, interfered much more in one of their owns life then either of them would have thought possible._

_As it involved Giles directly, he started with telling her his versions of events that lead up to the horrendous event that had been so meticulously documented in these secret papers. _

_Just after he had started to work for the Watcher's Council, Giles had been sent to train a promising potential. She was already 14 years old when she had been found by their organisation and not exactly happy with the interference._

_Who would have thought. _

_Yes, she trained regularly with Giles. Yes, she dutifully learned all of what the Watcher's Council deemed necessary for their potential slayers to know. _

_But she also was a teenager having to cope with her newly developing body and all the lovely hormones coming with it. It probably didn't help that she rather quickly changed into a beautiful young woman that turned many a heads. Giles, going with the Watcher's Council guidelines, believing in them, tried to shift her focus on her fighting skills. Demanded her to focus on them._

_But demanding a teenager to do something never went down well. And neither did it in this case. Now, the potential wasn't particular disobedient, but she did wanted a life outside her training. And then she fell in love. Annoying her watcher with the resulting missed training sessions was another plus. And then, like other girls before and after her, she became pregnant. At 15. _

_The Watcher's Council was not pleased. At all. Neither were her parents. But at least they tried to stand by her. As did Giles, much to the Watcher's Council dismay. If they would have had their way, the girl would have had an abortion and get on with her training. But she resisted. The baby might not have been what she had in mind, but she wanted it and after long and often tearful talks with her parents, they had agreed to support her wish. _

_Then, one month before her child was born, the potential had suddenly seemed to change her mind. She was going to give her baby up for adoption. She had already talked with an agency and they would organise everything for her. Not sure how to cope with their initial idea of bringing up her baby, her parents had been somewhat relieved by that prospect. Yes, they would have kept their promise to help their daughter in any way possible. But with a baby, the bright future they had thought up for her would have been rather difficult to achieve. So, giving that baby a future with a complete set of parents wasn't such a bad choice either. It might have been their grandchild, but somehow they that didn't seem to matter. _

_Again, Giles might have wondered about the complete turn around in her thinking, but he was sticking with her. She simply had grown on him. They still met regularly, even if the physical part of her training was more or less non-existent now. There had still been lots of other things he could teach her._

_Giles had been there when the potential had gone into labour and brought her into the hospital. He had waited in the waiting room for news and then, when the baby, a girl, had been taken away, he had followed. And managed to take a few photographs. He wasn't even sure why he did it, but he had been unable to resist the sudden urge to do so. _

_The potential had been sad at first, but seemed to go back to her old self almost immediately. She had insisted to go back to her training rather quickly and glad she seemed okay, Giles complied. Three month later and another girl had been called as slayer. Another month, and Giles had been called back to London. Apparently, though still just 16, the girl was no longer being considered a potential. Or at least not a promising one. This was unusual early for a girl to drop of the radar, but it wasn't unheard of either. _

_So they had wished each other good luck for the future and Giles had left. _

_And had received a very disturbing phone call about four years later. _

_His potential had grown up and was studying at university now. And she woke up one morning, remembering. _

_Remembering how much she had and still did loved her baby. _

_Remembering the plans she had made, plans to help her through school and on to university despite her baby._

_Remembering the afternoon tea she had with another member of the Watcher's Council to discuss her future._

_Remembering how she couldn't remember her plans afterwards. How she had suddenly wanted to give up her baby for adoption._

_Giles had almost gotten sick that time as well. He knew then that the Watcher's Council had somehow fiddled with the girl's mind. Knew that they had basically stolen her baby. And he promised to find out as much as he could about her baby girl. Then, remembering the pictures he had taken on the day of her birth, he had send most of them to his former potential._

_For years, he couldn't find anything about this baby girl. The Watcher's Council had covered their tracks too well. Still, they had documented every detail of that deed._

_Documented what exact spell they had been using on the girl. Not bothering that it wouldn't hold forever. They had simply figured that by the time the spell wore off, the girl was either dead after being called the next slayer or had outlived her time as potential and was hence not of their concern anymore. Just to be sure though, they had manipulated both the birth certificate and the adoption papers and put another spell on the hand selected adoptive parents of the little girl. This time, they had chosen a spell that would grow stronger the more the parents loved they baby. Grow strong enough for them to almost forget their daughter was adopted._

_At that point, Giles stopped with his story._

_Looking into his face, Buffy had known that she wouldn't need to ask if he ever found the girl again. Because, every time Buffy looked into a mirror, that girl was staring right back at her. _

_The Watcher's Council hadn't started to interfere with her life when she became the Slayer. No, they had started even before she was born._

_She hadn't needed to ask Giles if he knew all along. His feeling had been written clearly on his face and if the old Watcher's Council hadn't died in the explosion those years ago, she was pretty sure they wouldn't have much chance to survive Giles wrath. Otherwise known as Ripper. And she would have supported him all the way till the end. _

_Bastards._

_That night, she and Giles had gone on patrol together to vent off some of their anger. When she had brought him to the headquarter, she came back to her apartment to find Mark waiting for her. _

_And she had cried for her family. The mother that had died, and the mother that had been robbed of her own child. Then, once she had calmed down, he had asked her what she was going to do about it._

_First, she had been confused but then she couldn't help but smile at his practicality. _

--

Somewhere down below, a baby started to cry, only to be quickly soothed by his mother. Her biological mother had been robbed of that.

--

_**One month ago we got engaged.**_

--

_She had just finished her degree. Graduated on top of her class. To celebrate, everyone she considered her family had come to Rome and they organised a party at the Rome headquarter. _

_When the sun went down, Mark took her to walk in the surrounding gardens. There, with the last glimmers of sunlight brushing the top of her head, he had asked her to marry him. Tears pouring down her face, she had accepted. He was her solid rock, her life-line, in the mad world she called her life. And she loved him in a way she thought she wasn't capable of anymore._

_Back inside, she told everyone the exciting news and a many more happy tears where shed that night. _

_She was finally living again. _

_Her life was finally going in the right direction._

--

Taking note of the birds greeting another day, she absently twirled her engagement ring around her finger.

_--_

_**One week ago I buried him.**_

--

_The day, in fact all week, had been sunny, yet not a single sun ray had been able to reach through the darkness that had descended around Buffy once more. By the time his coffin had been lowered into his grave, her face was dry of tears. She simply had no more tears left to shed. _

_Surrounded by her family, she had only eyes for the dark coffin in front of her. _

_He was gone._

_There hadn't been anything supernatural involved. _

_No, he had been struck by a drunk driver on his way home. He had died immediately, the flowers he'd just bought crushed beneath his broken body. _

_Buffy had gone to formally identify his body, her face set in stone. Unmoving. Then she had gone back home, had gone straight to bed. She hadn't moved again until Dawn arrived over 36 hours later. Then, in the comfort of her sisters arms, the wall she had built around her emotions had finally crumbled down._

_They had called Mark's cousin Linda, the only member of his family he actually stayed in contact with. She had been there for the funeral, while his parents and siblings didn't seem to care. _

_Linda had left again, but they had exchanged email addresses. For later. If either of them wanted to stay in contact, once the pain wasn't as raw anymore. _

_Although Buffy didn't know if that was ever going to be the case._

_Her lifeline was gone._

_Mark was __gone__._

--

Listening to the sounds of the wakening city below her, she ignored the roof terrace door opening behind her. She knew it wouldn't be Mark. Frankly, she didn't care who it was.

Stepping up behind her sister, Dawn touched Buffy's shoulder gently. "It's time."

Sighing, Buffy opened her eyes and looked straight into the now fully risen sun, a single tear running down her face.

--

_**Today I'm leaving. Leaving him. Leaving Rome.**_


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

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**Chapter 1**

Using her slayer senses, Buffy subconsciously looked for ships on the ocean below her. She was flying back to the States. To a new flat. To a new job. To a new life. Again.

And with every mile she moved away from Europe, her heart broke more about the loss of the man she loved, the man she had been going to marry, the man she had buried only a week ago.

Yet she tried to be strong, even if she didn't have any strength left.

She knew Mark wouldn't want her to waste away but to get on with her life. So, despite the protests of her friends, she had decided to take the job she had applied for a couple of month ago and leave so soon after the funeral.

A job that would bring her close to her biological mother. A job Mark had found the advertisement for and suggested she should apply for that very reason. He had helped her with the application, had flown to the States with her for her interview and had been just as pleased when Buffy got the offer as she had been.

Still, she hadn't quite made up her mind if she should accept the offer or not. Understanding how important it was, Mark had told her to take her time – and she wouldn't get rid of him either way. He'd be going were she went.

And then he had died.

Knowing she needed to get away from Rome, needed to get away from their life together if she wanted a chance to survive the pain of loosing him, she'd called and accepted the position as a physiotherapist intern. Although she already had her degree from the course in Rome, she still had to sit a licensing exam to work in the States and decided on an additional course to prepare. Study would mostly be done through online material, but more importantly, she would get a lot more praxis hours as well.

Sure, she would start almost at the bottom of the food chain, but she would inevitable gain a lot of experience in her chosen profession. Besides, if the bottom of the food chain meant long hours, then it would only leave her with less time to think. Which, right now, was a big plus. Yes, this job was the one thing keeping her going right now.

Realising the plane was starting to descend, Buffy sighed inwardly, getting ready to whoever was going to collect her from the airport.

In fact, she was pretty sure it would be Faith and Robin. Council-wise, they were heading their school in Cleveland, guarding the new Hellmouth there while also travelling the country once a new slayer had been identified. So, officially, they were probably looking for another slayer in New Jersey and thought they might just as well greet her as they were in the area. Of course, the new slayer would finally have turned out to be a false alarm.

Her heart might be shattered into a million and more pieces, but that didn't make her stupid. Knowing it was her friends way of showing their concern, she'd already accepted the fact that she'd most likely get frequent visitors in the near future. Just as she would accept Faith and Robin hanging around for a while even if all she wanted was to be left alone.

--

After getting her bags, she just took one look around the waiting area before finding her suspicion confirmed. Putting on a fake smile, she walked over to greet Faith and Robin.

"Surprise," Faith commented, knowing fully well it wasn't. Raising an eye-brow, Buffy nodded and turned towards the exit.

"Sorry, B." Stepping up beside her friend, Faith gave her shoulder the gentlest of touches before taking one of the bags. "We promised Red and Dawn to take you to your apartment. We already collected the keys, so it's one thing less for you to do."

"And we'll stay around for the next few days, in case you need help with anything," Robin added.

Seeing Buffy's shoulder slump even more, Faith quickly reassured her. "Look. I guess, no, I _know_ you rather want to be alone. And although we've promised them to stick around, I figured a nice little hotel room in Plainsboro is 'around' enough."

Looking up, Buffy gratefully nodded her head. They might have had their differences in the past, but sometimes Faith understood her better than her friends. "Thanks."

"Just remember to call when you do need someone, okay?" Seeing her friend nod again, she pointed to their car. "And no, you're not driving."

Giving only the slightest hint of a smile, Buffy let herself fall into the backseat.

--

The drive to Plainsboro was quiet, yet pleasant. They managed to avoid the rush hour, something Buffy was rather grateful for. Faith and Robin had come up to her apartment to show her around, but as Faith had promised, had left soon after.

Now, her belongings put away already, Buffy sighed and decided to have a look around the area. Faith had already organised a car for her, so there was even less for Buffy to do. Still, for now she was just going for a walk, figuring she might just as well check out the grocery stores and similar things around the area. No matter how down she might feel, her body always demanded food. Slayer metabolism and all that.

Having found a wide variety of ethnical food stores and take away within walking distance, or rather her walking distance anyway, Buffy just kept wandering about. It was a pleasant day and the sun managed to chase some of the coldness, her not-so-new constant companion, away.

Looking up in surprise, she suddenly found herself in front of the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, her new workplace. Well, looks like her flat wasn't only convenient for food and stores, but for work as well. Then again, she hadn't expected anything else from Willow and Dawn.

Although her driving skills could actually be called such now, she still preferred walking over using a car. Now she only had to find the shortest way back and she was settled for starting her new job in two weeks. She couldn't wait to get busy again.

Feeling the tiniest bit of excitement for the first time after Mark's death, Buffy took another long glance at the hospital from under the tree she was leaning against. Somehow it felt like she could really work in this place. Or rather, she wasn't getting any weird vibes like it usually happened around most hospitals.

Mark used to tease her about it, especially as she had chosen a profession that was often done in hospitals. But she would just shrug her shoulders, pointing out all the other places she could work.

Yes, Mark would have loved her job, in a hospital of all places – especially with her biological mother working here as an added bonus. Jeez, who was she kidding? She finally accepted this job just as much for herself as for the knowledge that Mark would have approved. Even if he'd never pushed her one way or another, she knew he thought it was the right thing to do. So she was going to do it. For herself. But just as much in memory of her fiancé.

Sighing as those thoughts had her depression take hold again, she stepped out of the shadow in a vain attempt to re-catch the warm she had so briefly felt again. Finally giving up on it, Buffy turned to find that shortest way to her apartment.

--

Walking towards the second cemetery of this night, Buffy looked up at the starless night sky above her. Watching the dark clouds swirling above her, she thought just how much of a perfect visualisation of her thoughts they actually were. Looks like she wasn't the only one without any tears left for now.

A week had passed since she had moved to Plainsboro now but she hadn't found enough strength to patrol yet. For some reason, the slayer in her was keeping a low profile and she wasn't one to question it. In a weird way it felt rather good to sink deeper and deeper into the depression looming over her. Tonight, however, her inner slayer had broken out of its depression fuelled prison and not having the strength to fight back, Buffy had relented to its wishes and got ready to patrol.

There had only been two fledgling vampires on the cemetery just around the corner of her apartment building and she had watched the Slayer take over her body with morbid fascination. She had never experienced anything as strong as this. Never felt herself almost physically dissociate from her Slayer-self. Fascinated by it, she left it in control and instead watched the dark clouds above her.

She was just trying to figure out if that particular dark cloud looked more like Count Dracula or a Fyarl demon, when her thoughts were rudely interrupted.

"Looky, looky what I found," a greasy, stuck in the 60's looking vampire leered in front of her.

Looking him up and down, Buffy scrunched up her face in disgust. "Eww! You're mouth is leaking." Apparently California Buffy was sitting just under the Slayer surface, ready to come into action on a seconds notice. Unfortunately, California Buffy wasn't acting as independently as the Slayer and she had to actually take part in the conversation. Which, right now, made for a rather pissed Buffy.

"Now, now. There's no reason to get mean," Greasy's companion chastised her in a soft voice. His taste in clothing was just as bad as Greasy's, but at least he seemed to have taken a shower or two since he had died.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Buffy gave them her best California girl pout. "Yeah, well, Mr. Greasy-can't-keep-from-salivating over there started it."

Chuckling, the second vampire, bowed slightly in front of her. "You have to excuse my friend. He gets a bit … anxious … when he's hungry."

"Then feed him. Or give him a bib or something."

Smiling creepily, he nodded. "That's why we are here."

Looking around as if searching for something, Buffy scrunched up her face in deep concentration. "Uhm. I hate to the bringer of bad news and all, but there's no food place around here. You guys must've taken a wrong turn or something."

"Now that's where you're wrong. We're exactly where we wanted to be." The creepy smile never leaving his face, the talkative vampire and his companion slowly moved towards Buffy.

Slapping her forehead, Buffy shook her head regretfully. "Don't tell me you believe people still provide their loved ones with food for their after life. I mean that stopped like ages ago! Besides, grave robbing? Eww! For food? Double eww!" Searching through her pockets, she finally pulled out a five dollar note and handed it over. "Here, go and get yourself some real food."

Seeing the confused face of Mr. Greasy vampire, she mentally rolled her eyes. No matter where she went, vampires just didn't seem to appreciate her witty replies.

Making a shooing motion with her hands, she added, "Now go. Shoo. See you later. Got thoughts to think, people to avoid, places to be."

Not waiting for a reply, she turned and started to walk away. However, no matter how uninterested she seemed in them, Buffy new exactly where they were for every second her back was turned to them.

"Hey! We weren't finished yet!" Greasy vampire shouted and before Buffy could make another step, he jumped in front of her, face in full game mode.

Without batting an eyelash, Buffy replied, "Oy. You really should show that to a doctor. That looks _really_ nasty!"

"What the-!" Greasy vampire replied rather shocked.

"You tell me," Buffy pouted indignantly. "_I'm_ the one blinded by your ugliness."

"Enough!" Not-so-greasy vampire interrupted annoyed. "No more talking. It's time to feed."

"Who you're feeding?" Buffy asked innocently. She couldn't help but admit that she enjoyed the little banter with Greasy and Not-so-greasy in front of her. For once she was glad for the Slayer having taking over tonight, for the Slayer in her having her forced to patrol.

"Not _who_. But _on_ whom we are feeding."

"Now that's just wrong. Grammatically speaking."

"No it's not." Greasy said just before leaping forward – right into Mr Pointy.

"Yes it is." Brushing off Greasy's dusty remains, Buffy's eyes turned from dreamy to hard as steel. "You've got anything else to add?"

His evil smile never leaving his face, Not-so-greasy started to slowly circling the slayer. "Guess I get his share too, then."

Snorting, Buffy shook her head in disbelieve. "Arrogant much?"

Not bothering to reply, the vampire started his attack instead. Unlike the two fledglings earlier that night, this vampire actually provided an, albeit tiny, challenge for the Slayer. A challenge it more than welcomed. A challenge that had endorphins running through Buffy's system, suppressing her depression for the time being. So, instead of finishing the vampire off, Buffy kept fighting, preventing the Slayer in her from executing that final blow.

From the darkness, a pair of brown eyes watched the fight with interest, cross-bow ready if need be. But as ten minutes passed and Buffy still showed no intention of finishing off the fight, Faith stepped closer to the fighting pair, casually leaning against a nearby tree.

"You know, B, if you wanted somebody to spar with all you had to do was ask."

Stopping mid-motion, the vampire looked from his opponent to the other young woman. Finally, realisation dawning, he looked back at Buffy, snarling, "Slayer."

Snorting, Buffy shook her head in disappointment. "And here I thought you were the smart one. But no, it takes him a full five minutes of fighting to figure that one out."

"Ten." Faith corrected.

"Huh?"

"You've been fighting ten minutes."

"We have?"

"Yep."

Turning back to the stunned vampire in front of her, she put both her arms on her hips. "Now that's downright insulting."

Chuckling, Faith absently balanced a stake on her forefinger. "Maybe if you had actually been fighting properly it wouldn't have taken him so long?"

"So I'm not even allowed to play anymore?" Buffy pouted.

"Sorry." Moving her head to the left, Faith added, "By the way, Mr. Not-so-smart is trying to leave without saying goodbye."

"Now that's just rude." Turning towards the running vampire, Buffy adjusted the stake in her hand and threw it after him. Watching him turn into dust, Buffy walked over to Faith, picking up Mr Pointy on the way. "That was rather anti-climatic."

"Vampires simply aren't what they used to be." Giving Buffy a quick glance over, Faith handed her a clean tissue for her split lip. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Sighing, Buffy slid down the tree trunk. "For a little while."

"Slayer chocolate," Faith replied knowingly. It was a description Dawn had come up with after one of the newbie slayers explained the elevation she felt during her fight with her first vampire. And as it was as good as anything they could come up with, it had stuck.

Nodding, Buffy closed her eyes and leaned her head against the tree. "Yeah. Today was the first patrol since… you know."

"I do." In fact, Faith had been watching Buffy's apartment for the past week, making sure she wouldn't get herself killed by being too distracted.

"Fighting the fledglings, it was almost like watching myself from within myself. But these guys, it was like the Slayer in me knew it could do with some additional help of, well, of me."

"It showed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The fledglings, that was mechanically. Clean. No emotion involved. Dumb and Dumber here was more like a game, seeing how far you could go."

Opening her eyes again, Buffy stared into the distance, thinking about the truth in Faith' observation. Finally she spoke again, "I wasn't trying to get myself killed, you know."

"It almost looked like the slayer wouldn't let you in any case. You know, when he got too close to actually hurting you, you kinda switched to that mechanic fighting style again." Sitting down next to Buffy, Faith casually put her arm around the blonde's shoulder in silent support.

Pondering Faith reply, subconsciously leaning into her, Buffy slowly agreed. "Maybe. Like the slayer's fight for survival overriding anything else and keeping me alive."

Faith nodded. She'd been at that point herself before, wanting to die but the Slayer in her not really complying with said wish.

In her case, Angel had been there to catch her in one of her darkest hours. Had been there to help her face her inner demons and help her survive all the things she had done. It had been the turning point in her life. Later, in the years since the final battle with The First, she and Buffy had buried any remaining differences and become closer friends than they had ever been.

Sometimes only The Chosen One could truly understand The Chosen One.

Now it was her turn to return Angel's favour, only the recipient being Buffy. That's why she was still in Plainsboro, making sure Buffy wouldn't do anything stupid. Or at least that she was there in case Buffy did.

Both pondering their respective thoughts, the two slayers sat unmoving in comfortable silence until the sun started to rise in the east.

"We are leaving for Cleveland tomorrow."

"Okay. Thanks for … you know. Watching out for me while-"

"Not watching you?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Offering her hand, Faith pulled Buffy up and gave her a quick hug. "Just don't be a stranger, okay?"

"I won't."

"Good. Anyway, the demon population is certainly sparse around here. So if you feel like a real fight, give me a call."

"I will."

Looking at her friend for a long time, Faith finally nodded. "Don't second guess yourself. This is the right decision."

Giving her the tiniest of smiles, Buffy eventually agreed. "Yeah. I think this place is going to be good for me."

--

Another week later found Buffy standing in front of her wardrobe, contemplating on what to wear. Today was her first day and she wanted to make a good impression. Especially as people here didn't know her, didn't expect her to be the superhero, saving the day – every day. No, she just had to turn up and use her learned skills and add to them.

The part of her not battling her major depression was looking forward to it.

To be honest, ever since the night in the cemetery a week ago, she slowly but surely gained ground on that battlefield as well. She had only be out on one more patrol, but as the area seemed to be indeed quiet, the Slayer in her was happy enough.

Putting on her make-up, she eyed herself critically in the bathroom mirror. Well, there weren't any dark shadows under her eyes as she seemed to have slept longer since moving to Plainsboro ever since becoming the Slayer. She might be depressed, but at least her face wasn't showing any signs of it. All those time of keeping a double life came in quite handy right about now.

Checking her slacks and stylish but comfortable top, she nodded to herself.

She was ready to start another chapter in her life.

Or so she hoped.

* * *

_A/N: Wow. Thanks for all the reviews! I had almost forgotten how addictive they can get… Anyway, I've neither written Buffy nor House MD fanfiction before, so if I get their voices wrong (or anything else), please tell me. It's a learning curve for me too. That said, I hope Faith isn't too off in this chapter – I added the whole cemetery scene while editing the chapter. This also means the characters of House get another few days rest before they've to come to work…_


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Taking a deep breath Buffy walked into the hospital, looking for the right way. Finding the correct signs, she followed them, using her slayer hearing to get additional help of where her group might be meeting. Sure enough, she soon managed to pick up a conversation about the final member of the group.

The new Italian girl.

Rolling her eyes at the title, Buffy followed the voices and listened to what else they might be going to say.

Considering that all of them sounded distinctively male, she wasn't too surprise to hear things like olive skin, tall and legs up to her ears.

Snorting, she turned the next corner and almost run into a scrubby looking man, standing in front of the room the voices were coming from. He was rather obviously listening in and didn't seem to care if anyone noticed.

Raising her eyebrows, she quipped, "And here I though listening into other peoples conversations is rude."

"No-o!" To emphasise his surprise at that piece of information, he showed off what he thought was a rather nice _I'm truly and utterly shocked_ expression.

Nodding, her features all but screamed sincerity. "Yeah, imagine that. Rude."

Watching him slowly scrutinise her from top to toe, Buffy even managed a small amused smile.

After a couple of minutes he turned back to the entrance so he'd hear better, ignoring her completely. Finally, after listening to a few more comments about the anatomical advantages of that new Italian intern, he graced her with his attention again. "Then what are _you_ doing here?"

Buffy barely raised her eyebrows in response. Rolling his eyes at her slowness, he moved his hands dismissively. "Shoo, go! Waste your time somewhere else."

"What? You afraid the gossip will magically half itself because someone else is listening in? Aren't you too old to get all gossip-y anyway?"

"I'm the doctor-"

"No you're not. He's all classy and yummy and not so much with the standing around uselessly." Buffy interrupted him in her best blonde Valley Girl impression.

"Huh!?" Staring open mouthed at the little midget in front of him, he couldn't believe it. Didn't anyone fear him around here anymore? Blasphemy! And what was she babbling about anyway?

Chuckling, Buffy watched him look back at her in confusion. She could tell that he wasn't used to being interrupted or being confused by whomever he was talking to. But judging by the tiny smile creeping into his eyes, Buffy thought that after overcoming the initial bewilderment about her comment he was more intrigued than offended. "Never mind. So, you were saying I'm the doctor…?"

Shaking his head in amazement, he continued without even thinking, "_I'm_ the doctor, I live off of gossip. How else am I supposed to cure all the stupid people insisting on populating this place?"

"And that makes sense how?"

Rolling his eyes – only barely preventing himself from punching the air for successfully confusing her in return – he tipped his cane against her legs. "Everybody lies."

Snorting, Buffy shook her head. "That's hardly a revelation."

Judging by the surprised look he was giving her, that wasn't exactly the answer he'd expected.

Shrugging her shoulders, despite the little fun earlier Buffy didn't really know this guy and couldn't care less about what he was up to, she looked towards the door. The door that Grumpy Cane Guy was blocking.

"Well, you done yet?" Buffy asked slightly impatient. Coming late to their introduction didn't exactly count as making a good first impression on her tutor. Of course, she could always just shove Grumpy Cane Guy away, but with his leg problem, whatever it was, that action would kinda contradict both her slayer and professional instinct. Help people, not injure them further – no matter how much it sucks!

He didn't even have the decency to look at her but was once more listening to the conversation on the other side of the door. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Why not?" Finally, enduring all those teenagers, potentials and newbie slayers alike around her for the past few years paid off. She could play the why-game forever. _And_ she had his attention back.

"Why, why, aren't we nosy."

"Why? Why, oh_ why_ is wanting to know why you asked me _why_ making me nosy? Why, huh?" Entering the staring contest he seemed so keen on, Buffy never lost eye-contact while a small smile started to spread across her face.

"D'oh!"

Smirking, Buffy wiggled her eyebrows. "Giving up already?"

"In contrast to other people present here, I have actually stuff to do and can't play with such boring things as the word 'Why' all day!"

"You mean you have to find another place to listen in? Well, it's been nice meeting you. But I have to go now." Giving him a gentle push so she could pass him, Buffy threw him another look over her shoulder. "Gotta show off my olive skin after all!"

Grinning, House watched the door close after her. Turns out that coming in early for his patient was actually paying back. He hadn't had such an interesting conversation for quite some time. Judging by what he learned by listening to those morons inside the conference room, she was going to stick around for a while.

He was looking forward to it.

And wondered if she would keep up with him once she learned about his reputation.

Whistling, he went towards his very own entertainment. Avoiding Cuddy's and Wilson's attempts to get him to choose new fellows. Throwing a coin, he decided coma-guy deserved another visit from him.

He had a story to tell after all.

--

Sighing, Buffy opened the door to her apartment. It had been a long day and the little banter with Grumpy Cane Guy had definitely been the highlight of it. Then again, as she had hoped, she'd been too busy to think about Mark. This was another major plus.

Apart from that, her co-workers seemed to be alright. Despite her being the only woman in the group and them obviously being disappointed of her lack of legs that reach her ears. She could live with that. Besides, after they spent the day with a detailed tour of the hospital – or rather all the areas they might find their patients - together, they seemed to have forgotten about it. Mostly.

She hadn't seen Grumpy Cane Guy again. Nor did she get a glimpse of her biological mother. Still, the hospital hadn't given her any major weird vibes as most of them usually do, so all in all she considered today a success.

But now came the part of the day she hated. Being alone at home gave her way too much time to think. Grocery shopping was out, as her fridge was filled to the rim. She didn't exactly feel like patrolling either, but it would keep her attention somewhere else and her mind busy. And hopefully she'd get tired enough to fall into a dreamless sleep later.

So patrolling it was.

--

While Buffy was busy chasing up the bad guys, House was enjoying a lone evening at home. Or so he intended. Hence him not even moving a muscle when someone was knocking on his door. Or when the knocking was joined by a distinct voice.

"House, open up! I know you're in there!".

Throwing a lazy glance at his watch, he realised that Wilson was coming close to a new record in persistent knocking. Not wanting to rob his friend of this amazing achievement, House took another slow sip from his beer.

Double-checking his watch again, he finally heaved himself off of his couch. He needed to get another beer anyway. Walking to the front door and back happened to be shorter than walking to his fridge, so he'd take the shorter route and then have Wilson fetch him another beer.

Wrenching his front door open, he looked at his friend in mock-surprise. "Wilson! You here! My, I hope I didn't let you wait for too long." Leaning over, he vaguely gestured towards his crotch and stage whispered, "I've been busy, you know."

Seeing House's empty bottle, Wilson got two new beer from the fridge. Huffing in annoyance, he finally collapsed on the couch. "Very funny."

Bowing like he'd just finished a stage play, House took one of the beer and sat down next to him.

"So, killed another patient?" he asked while trying to find something interesting on his TV. No such luck.

"No-o."

"Ah! You slept with another patient, you greedy sex-machine, you!"

"No!" Wilson cried out indignantly. And regretted his outburst not even one second later. This was, after all, House he was talking to.

Smirking, House patted Wilson's leg reassuringly. "Don't worry, I won't tell. For the right fee, of course."

"House! I did not sleep with anyone!"

"Well… don't you worry, Jimmy-boy. It happens to the best of us. Well, second best, anyway as I obviously don't have any problems with that." Patting his friend's leg again, House added, grinning. "But what are we doctors for if we can't abuse the system in one way or another. Well, more than one, really. Just come by my office tomorrow and I'll write you a prescription for some little blue happy pills."

Once again flabbergasted by House's train of thought, Wilson stood up and shook is head in both disbelieve and annoyance. "I don't need little blue pills. Thank you very much."

Shrugging his shoulders, House emptied his beer bottle in one big sip. "De Nile is a river in Egypt."

Throwing his hands up into the air in frustration, Wilson all but screamed, "House!"

Doing what every self-respecting friend would do in a situation like that, House looked up in mock-surprise at his friend's emotional outburst. "Wilson?"

Shaking his head in defeat, Wilson announced, "I give up."

"Good. Don't mind me, just close the door behind you when you leave." Rubbing his hands together with glee, House got himself even more comfortable, putting his legs up on the table in front of him.

Taking his coat, Wilson opened the front door, unaware of the wide grin currently spreading across his friend's face. He'd almost closed the door behind him when he realised his mistake. Turning around, he threw it closed behind him. "I wasn't finished yet."

"Doesn't matter. I was."

Ignoring his friends last comment, Wilson took a long drink from his until now untouched beer, relishing in the coldness of the beverage. Sighing, he closed his eyes. Opening them again, he turned towards House. "I haven't seen much of you today."

"No! I'm truly sorry, Sweet Cheeks."

"Ha ha. Do you mind if I laugh later?"

Wiping an imaginary tear from his cheek, House sniffed. "Yes. In fact, I'd be really hurt."

James Wilson knew he shouldn't have asked. Gregory House was one of the few people who'd take a rhetorical question serious. On purpose. And he still managed to annoy him with it every single time. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he tried again.

"How is search for new fellows coming along?"

His eyes never leaving the television, House nodded. "Great."

Positively surprised, Wilson turned towards him. "Really?"

"Yep."

"So, when do you start interviewing them?"

"Never."

"Huh?"

"Never. When was the last time you got rid of all this ugly ear wax of yours." Leaning over, House pretended to take a closer look into his friends ears. "Eww. Let me guess, a long, _long_ time ago. At least it explains your hearing problems."

Taking the TV remote from the couch table, Wilson switched the telly off. "What do you mean by never?"

"Never, as in at no point in time. N-E-V-E-R. As in coming from the words _not_ and _ever_, meaning that something is not ever going to happen. Never."

"Bu- … but," Taking a deep breath, Wilson tried again. "House!"

Looking at his friend, House just shrug his shoulders. "What?"

"You need new fellows. I know it. Cuddy knows it. But most importantly, you know it as well!" Frustrated, Wilson stood up, throwing his arms helplessly into the air.

"Apparently you know more about me than I do. How about paying my bills next? I wouldn't mind, you know."

"I'm already buying you lunch more often than not. Or drinks. Or other things."

"Okay, how about my hookers? They wouldn't mind either. I might even be willing to share."

Shaking his head in defeat, Wilson moved towards the front door again. Turning back for a final glance, his eyes passed something rather interesting. His friend's prized electric guitar. Keeping the smile off his face, he told House matter of fact, "You need fellows." Not even bothering to wait for a reply, he closed the door behind him.

He had a plan. And an evil one at that.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. You guys rock!!_


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Before her first week was over, Buffy had learned who Grumpy Cane Guy was. Not that she had seen him again, but all the stories – combined with a good enough description of the culprit – where enough to assure her the Grumpy Cane Guy was none other than Dr. Gregory House, Head of Diagnostic Medicine.

His apparent love for puzzles, medical or not, set off some warning bells and Buffy decided to keep out of his way as best as she could. Hence her not meeting him again. True, usually a mere description of a person as a puzzle lover wouldn't bother her at all, but all the stories that came with that particular person – including his success rate – made the precautions necessary. Despite her having enjoyed the short encounter with him. However, as much as she hated to be Secret Identity Girl, it was still better than 'Medical Miracle Needs to be Investigated' Girl.

Unfortunately, House didn't read her mind. That one meeting alone had sparked an interest in him already. Well, he'd do anything he could do to avoid the whole 'get a new team' thing, really. Besides, hadn't he already diagnosed the odd patient since his old one left?

No, he didn't need new fellows.

He needed information.

He needed information on Olive Skin.

Putting his thinking ball back on his desk, House grabbed his cane and went to his first source of possible information.

Dr Lisa Cuddy, 'Sometimes pain in the backside, often source of entertainment, always Dean of Medicine' Cuddy.

Not even bothering with the secretary of the week – month, even – House strolled directly into the Dean of Medicine's office. True to herself, she only spared him a glance before continuing her phone call.

About to stomp his cane impatiently on the floor, just to annoy her, House remembered he actually wanted something from her. Sometimes the best way to get what he wanted was by surprising his opponent. In this case, he smirked and made himself comfortable on her couch, leg stretched out on the small table in front of it. Waiting quietly for her to end her call.

Judging by the increasing frequencies of Cuddy's looks towards him, his strategy was working. Kind of. She was definitely starting to wonder and, who was he kidding, worry about him. His grin getting even bigger at that thought, he casually waved at her when their eyes met and locked at her next glance.

Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. Quickly finishing her phone call to one of their long-term donors, Cuddy looked directly at her best, yet most annoying doctor.

"House." She all but sighed out his name.

"Cuddy."

"What is it this time." Rolling her eyes, she didn't even bother to move from behind her desk. Just as he was to say something, she held up her hand to stop him. "No. Wait. Please tell me you've decided on a new team?"

Nodding, he put on his sweetest smile. "I've decided on a new team."

Her mood perched up a bit on that. A tiny little bit. "Really?"

"Nope. But you said _please_," he quipped.

Sighing, she wondered why she had even bothered to ask. "You need fellows to work best."

"Tell that super-mommy I didn't heal last week." House was referring to a mother of five, who had become mysteriously ill. Lead poisoning through stupidity. She regularly drank from the old lead pipe in their garden while she made sure her kids only got tap water from their perfectly fine pipes in the house. What he hadn't told Cuddy – and wasn't go to either – was that he'd bounced back ideas with Steve McQueen.

"That was a one off. You still need a team."

"What about brainless fat guy the week before that?"

"Pure luck. Anyone could have diagnosed him."

"Yet anyone didn't do anything. Anyone would have killed him. I diagnosed him." This time he'd used his favourite hooker as a sounding board.

Frustrated, Lisa Cuddy threw her hands in the air. "Fine. You function without a team." Seeing his triumphant look, she couldn't help herself but add, "Barely."

Ignoring her last comment, knowing there was probably a tiny bit of big honking truth in it, House went back to his original reason for coming here. "Now that we've unanimous decided I don't need a team to function," which wasn't even a lie, "You can tell me all about this amazingly unnecessary physiotherapy program you decided you just have to have, you greedy little administrator you."

"What?" Blinking rapidly at the unexpected change of topic, or rather at the nature of the new topic, Cuddy didn't know what to say. It couldn't be that he suddenly thought about trying some physiotherapy for his leg again, could it?

Twirling the cane between his fingers, House rolled his eyes. And started talking very, _very_ slowly. "Physiotherapy. New program. New idiots. New money? Here."

Okay, so she hadn't misunderstood him. But it looked like her reasoning behind it was completely off. Then again, she wasn't really surprised by it. Ignoring the belittling tone he had used, she answered rather bluntly, "Well, in case you haven't noticed, this is a _teaching_ hospital."

"No way!" House exclaimed rather theatrically. And just because he felt like it, he gave her his best fish-on-dry-land expression.

"Yes way!"

"So, why do we bother with more idiots than we already have again?"

"They aren't idiots. Besides, it's only a group of four and all of them have successfully finished a degree in physiotherapy abroad. But they also want the certificate from the American Physical Therapy Association and we are helping with that," Cuddy explained rather patiently.

"Idiots, like I said. Why else would they study abroad only to realise later they actually want to practise here and need another license?"

"Because they lived abroad?" Cuddy suggested exasperated.

"Because they didn't get into a program in this country?" House challenged, matching her tone of voice rather well.

Not wanting to get into another argument with House, one per meeting was more than enough, Cuddy continued, "They are all qualified in their own way. They work full-time, albeit under some sort of supervision and get additional theoretical education to pass the APTA exam."

"How much do you pay them?"

"They get a full salary, of which tuition and other fees are taken off immediately."

"How much?"

Knowing when she was beat, she admitted, "40 percent."

"Ho ho. You little vixen you!" Smirking, House shook his finger at her.

Despite her best efforts, she couldn't prevent the small blush that crept up her face. "Well, someone needs to bring in all the money you're going to spent on unnecessary and dangerous treatments!"

Face crestfallen, House pressed both his hands over his heart. "Ouch. That hurt."

Rolling her eyes at him, Cuddy just shook her head.

"In fact, I don't think I can do anymore work today."

"Nice try. Now, go back to work. And to save you some unnecessary walking to your office, why don't you go and actually do some of your clinic hours?" Smiling sweetly at him, Cuddy pointed towards her door.

Lifting his leg a little, House immediately put it back onto the couch table, spotting a pained expression on his face. "I don't think I can manage even that far." Waggling his eyebrows, he added, "How about I do your work while you do mine?"

Huffing, a gesture that had a rather nice effect on her chest, she pointed towards her door again. "Out. Now. Clinic. Now."

"Spoilsport." Pouting, House crossed his arms in front of him.

Rubbing her temples, trying to stop the threatening headache from manifesting, Cuddy almost pleaded, "Please."

"Okay. Just one more question," House relented. He did want something from her after all.

"House!"

"Come on. What do you know about Olive Skin, I mean the Italian girl in the program?"

Raising her eyebrows, she immediately caught onto the most interesting part of his question. "Olive Skin?"

"Short. Blond. Bit of a Californian accent. Very short, actually."

"And I repeat, Olive Skin?"

"Your point being, Cuddles?"

"Mature. Very mature."

"Thanks. Now, what do you know about her?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. While I approved of the program, I had no hand in the application process. Ask Human Resources, ask the program coordinator, Dr. Marmine."

Seeing the wheels turning in his head, she quickly added, "After you've done two hours in the clinic. And I mean two hours of seeing and treating patients, not two hours of watching TV or playing games."

"You're an evil woman."

"Thanks. Now I'm sure you know where the door is."

Once outside, House was tempted to ignore her request of putting some clinic hours in, but quickly decided against it. It would be too predictable. It was much better to do exactly what she'd asked now and then. Although he had to admit, today was one of the days that contained a lot of actually doing what he was asked to do.

Hopefully he wasn't becoming soft in his old days.

Now that would be a major disaster!

* * *

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewd. I'm glad you like it and the voices seem to be alright. Next chapter, House and Buffy will run into each other again. Hehe._


	5. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

For the first time in, well, a very long time, Buffy had overslept. At least it was Friday.

Looking at her alarm clock in disgust, the one that decided to break at some point during the night – or there was the tiny possibility that she had broken when it went off this morning – Buffy went to the bathroom for a speedy shower. Less then ten minutes later she emerged again, hair still wet but otherwise ready to get dressed. Not bothering with breakfast, Buffy quickly grabbed her stuff and headed for the hospital in a dead run.

Thankfully most people in the park she had to cross where either sleepwalking themselves or too occupied with their own things to notice the unnatural speed in which she passed them.

Being back on time, if barely, Buffy stopped running and walked quickly the last 100 yards towards the hospital. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't see Grumpy Cane Guy until she all but bumped into him.

"Ops. Sorry." Steadying him, she looked apologetically at him. "Oh, it's you." So much for avoiding him.

Impressed by her reflexes, he nodded his thanks for her preventing him from falling flat on his backside. "Yeah it's me." Remembering that it actually was her who almost run him over, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Though I'd rather not have been run over in the first place."

Letting go of his arms, Buffy pouted. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't having been run over include you lying flat on the ground?"

"Nit-picker."

"Grouch."

"Hey! First you _almost_ run me over and now you're calling me names."

"I wouldn't have _almost_ run you over if you'd paid attention to where you were going." Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she looked at him in an unspoken but obvious challenge.

"You wouldn't have _almost_ run me over if _you'd_ paid attention to where you were going." Mimicking her posture, his weight on his good leg, he smirked back at her, never loosing eye contact. Not only hadn't he seen her since Monday, he also hadn't learned anything more about her.

Both were so engrossed in their staring match, that neither of them saw Lisa Cuddy walking towards them. Shaking her head, having heard the last part of their quarrelling, she suggested, "Why don't we agree that you wouldn't have almost been run over if _both _of you had been paying attention to where you were going?"

Keeping their eyes locked, they replied in unison, "It was _not_ my fault."

"Was too."

"Not."

"Too!"

Stepping in between them, Cuddy held up both her hands. "Stop it! I don't care what or what didn't happen. But this is a hospital, _my_ hospital, and I won't have you arguing in front of the patients!"

Keeping an eye on Buffy, House turned part of his attention to the angry Dean of Medicine. "But we aren't even inside yet." Seeing her starting to reply, he quickly added in a whining voice, "And _she_ started it, Mommy!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did-"

Anger threatening to boil over, Lisa Cuddy raised her voice, eyes sparkling with rage. "Shut up! Both of you!"

Raising his eyebrows in appreciation, House started to grin widely. He couldn't help it, he loved Cuddy in full fury mode - amongst other things, it did wonders to her cleavage. However, he kept his mouth shut.

Buffy, on the other hand, had the decency to at least look reprimanded. "Sorry." Then, looking, _really_ looking, at the woman in front of them, she suddenly realised who she was talking to. Blushing brightly, apparently they forgot to add a blush-block into the slayer package, Buffy quickly looked back down again.

Intrigued by the sudden mood change in his current challenger, House couldn't help himself but add, "Don't worry, Olive Skin. Cuddles here is mostly barking, less biting."

Looking up, even more appealed by his insolent comment, Buffy stared at him open mouthed.

"House!" Cuddy reprimanded him half-heartedly at the same time. After all, coming from him, this remark wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Taking a closer look at the woman, Olive Skin for lack of her real name, she could see what had him so intrigued. Her looks, blond, short and maybe even a bit pouty stood in complete opposition to the temper she'd witnessed only moments before. This was a woman who wasn't backing down but fought back, no matter what. To House, that obviously meant a challenge.

In contrast to the Dean of Medicine, Buffy wasn't going to let his comment pass by so easily. "One, it's Buffy, not Olive Skin. Two, Dr Cuddy is your boss. Ever heard of things like, I don't know, respect and courtesy?"

Now it was his turn to stare open mouthed. "Buffy? What kind of name is that?" He finally blurted out the first thing coming to his mind, ignoring the rest of her statement completely.

Slapping his arm, not too hard, Buffy went back to pouting. She couldn't help it, but pouting Valley Girl was the best way to ensure her opponent underestimating her. By now, it had become one of many defence mechanisms for her. "It's _my_ name. I like it."

Pretending to be in deep thought, including the whole finger tapping ones chin display, House finally shook his head. "Nope. It's just not right. I like Olive Skin better."

Shrugging her shoulders, she stared right back at him. "Whatever."

Feeling rather whatever right now, House added thoughtfully, "Although I have to admit, if you'd stop to become a chemically blonde, it would fit even better." Critically eyeing Buffy's hair, he looked at Cuddy. "What do you think, Cuddles?"

Cuddy sighed theatrically but any possible response was cut short as Buffy spoke up again. "Hey! I don't colour my hair." Drawing her brows together, she added annoyed, "It tends to vary a bit but up to the first inch of my hair is always dark and then it becomes blonde." The spell the Watcher's Council had put on her just after her birth made sure of that.

"Really?" Cuddy asked interested while House just looked at Buffy suspiciously.

"Yeah." Sighing, Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Guess you could call it a birth mark or something like that."

Having enough of the conversation – and being late again, Buffy turned to Dr Cuddy once more. Immediately, her expression softened considerably, making her look almost shy. "I'm sorry for the earlier commotion. Next time I'll just outrun Grumpy Cane Guy."

Then, without turning back, she quickly walked into the hospital. Her enhanced hearing picking up the amused chuckles coming from both Dr House and Dr Cuddy. At least she hadn't completely messed up her first meeting with the Dean of Medicine.

Meanwhile, both Cuddy and House were looking at her retreating back with matching grins on their faces. Not even looking at each other, they started walking towards the hospital entrance in fine-tuned unison.

"Grumpy Cane Guy," Lisa chuckled.

"Buffy," House murmured.

This was going to be fun.

--

All throughout the day images of this mornings confrontation in front of the hospital kept creeping up on Cuddy at random intervals. More than once could she be seen chuckling, or shaking her head for no apparent reason. But when 'Grumpy Cane Guy' entered her mind in the middle of the hospital board's lunch meeting, she promised herself to do something about it. After work, that is.

So, as soon as her secretary, and more importantly, House, were gone for the day, she accessed the files of Olive Skin. Or would have, if she had known her full name. However, knowing her given name and her occupation, it wasn't all that hard to find out her real name in the end. Or getting access to her file through Human Resources. Sometimes being the Dean of Medicine had it's advantages.

Buffy Summers. Born and raised in California, studied a while at UC Sunnydale, dropping out without a degree before starting her education in Rome a year or so later. Well, the file wasn't exactly forthcoming, was it? There wasn't any real interesting information in the rather thin file, especially of anything before Rome. But what she read – grades and supervisors recommendations – sounded rather promising. She could understand why Buffy would have been offered a place in their program.

About to close the information file on her screen, her eyes suddenly opened up comically wide. Did she just think there was nothing interesting in her file? Apart from the small amount of information in the first place, that is? When, in fact, she'd been living and studying in what is now Lake Sunnydale! Her whole hometown had turned into a sink-hole a few years back!

Chuckling, Cuddy imagined House' reaction to that particular piece of information. She could basically see his eyes lighting up in interest. And mischief.

Chuckling again, she finally did close the file on her computer and went back to finish some of her actual work before leaving for home. Not once did she notice the person on the other side of her glass door.

House had figured that now that Cuddy had actually met Olive Skin she might have been more interested in getting some information on her. Sure, he could have done it himself, but it was so much more fun to have somebody else do all the work. Especially if that someone was none other than Dr Lisa Cuddy.

In fact, he couldn't have planned this morning's incident as perfect as it had turned out to be, even if he had tried very hard. No, sometimes coincidence was a much better planner than anyone else. Not that he'd admit that particular thought to anyone, though.

Now, standing in front of Cuddy's office, her secretary gone home for the day, he realised that once more he seemed to have had the perfect timing. He just knew her too well. Cuddy wouldn't have looked Olive Skin up straight away. No, that'd be against her work ethics. Instead, she'd have ignored her. But curiosity could be a pain sometimes. It probably had built up during the day – in fact, he had seen her chuckle once or twice without apparent reason – and now, when most of the day staff had left the hospital, Cuddy would finally have allowed herself to satisfy her curiosity.

Yes, he loved being able to read her so well.

Turning, he quietly left and headed for his bike. Yes, he wanted to know what Cuddy found out. However, for once he didn't mind to wait a bit longer, letting the anticipation grow.

He had to make sure not to become predictable after all.


	6. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

When Buffy came home after a long day of work the following week – she had only barely avoided another confrontation with Grumpy Cane Guy and constantly had to fight off advances from one of her patients – she found scratch marks on her door lock. Apparently someone had tried to break in.

Must be Tuesday.

Which, of course, it was.

Wanting nothing more than to scream all of her frustration out, Buffy nevertheless focused on any unusual noises coming from inside. When she couldn't hear anything, she carefully opened the door and search the whole apartment for possible intruders.

Coming up with nothing, she took a quick inventory to see if anything was missing. Luckily, all her weapons were in a charmed trunk, with nobody but her and selected friends being able to open it. Or to see the contents, for that matter. In the end, she only found her TV, DVD-player and laptop missing. The latter, luckily, would turn out to be rather useless to the burglars as it had, like her weapons trunk, undergone a special Willow treatment.

She hadn't bothered to do the same with her flat in general, but might consider it now. Dawn usually had interesting ideas in that respect, so she might ask her for a little advice. Later.

Contemplating if she should bother with calling the police or not, she remembered the whole living a normal life thing. Smiling, as the burglars obviously weren't interested in the supernatural part of her life, Buffy decided to go with the normal people flow and call the police. Besides, the stolen goods had been insured, so she might just as well use her insurance. Which meant filing a police report.

She was about to call the appropriate number when her dialling was interrupted by a knock on the door. Looking through the peep-hole, she shrugged her shoulders. Seems like she didn't need to make that phone call after all.

Opening the door, she greeted the police officer on the other side. "Officer."

"Hi. I'm Officer Wayne. Would you mind answering some questions concerning recent burglaries in this building?"

"No. In fact, I was about to call you myself." Pointing to the tiny scratch marks on her door, Buffy continued. "I just returned from work and found those. After a quick check I found my TV, DVD-player and laptop missing."

Sighing, the officer scrabbled something on his notepad. "That's the fourth apartment today. I'll get the forensics team already working on the case to see if they can find some evidence of the culprits."

"Thanks."

And so her day ended being entertained by police officers, filling out reports and answering numerous of questions.

But she wouldn't complain. Buffy had wanted a normal life. Now she could add a burglary to that experience. And a good excuse to not watch the DVD she was supposed to look at for her course.

--

Sighing, Buffy opened the door to the hospitals roof area. Soaking up the warmth of the sun, she stepped towards the banister, looking at her surroundings.

She loved it up here. The silence. The serenity. It was her retreat from a busy work schedule. Closing her eyes, she lifted her head to soak up as much sun as possible. Only to have the opening of the roof access door interrupt the peaceful silence a short while later.

Sighing inwardly, she hoped whoever was there was going to leave her in peace. She really didn't want any company now. Then, hearing the unique sound of Grumpy Cane Guy walking, a sound she had learned to distinguish from her surroundings very quickly, which made evading him easier, she sighed again.

House, having spotted her as soon as he stepped onto the roof, walked slowly over to her. He hadn't expected anyone to be here, but neither seemed she. The roof, due to it only being accessible by stairs, was his last, sacred, hiding place. Neither Cuddy nor Wilson would think of him hiding here, as there was simply too much effort involved in getting here. Or, in the unlikely event of either one knowing about it, they left him in peace, knowing he wouldn't come here just to avoid work.

Stopping next to Buffy, he leaned onto the barrister and studied the park below them.

Neither of them spoke a word for several moments.

"Dr. Marmine is a jerk."

Smiling, still staring into the distance though, Buffy nodded. "I know."

As it had turned out, even though she had a very valid excuse for not watching the instruction DVD given to them last night, Dr Marmine wouldn't accept it and had given her quite a talking down, accusing her of lying through her teeth. In front of everyone who bothered to come somewhat close to the physiotherapy department. The longer she had stayed calm and reasonable, the more he had talked himself into a rage. Still, Buffy never bucked down even one bit.

In the end she had ended up with several days worth of extra hours – and a new level of respect from the other participants in her course. When they first had seen her as a bit arrogant as she wasn't taking part in their extracurricular activities, they now admired her for standing up to their superior. They all knew Dr Marmine was wrong, there was no way she could have watched that DVD. However, none of them figured they would have been able to stand their ground like Buffy did. And maybe she had very valid reasons for not wanting to go out with them, reasons they never had bothered to ask for before.

On the roof, another few minutes passed in complete, yet comfortable, silence.

"I hope you get your kidnapped guitar unkidnapped."

Now it was House's turn to nod and smile. "Thanks."

This morning, instead of his beloved electric guitar, a real classic at that, he'd found a ransom note in his office. At least he knew where his guitar was while she'd probably wouldn't get her stuff back. Judging by his experience with Princeton's police force anyway.

After several added minutes in silence, Buffy finally moved. Sighing, she looked at House for the first time since he had come to join her on the roof. "Try not to fall off. With my luck, I'd be responsible for the messy clean-up."

"Now, my patient, having been crushed by a whole building and all, she's _really_ messed up," House said thoughtfully. Catching Buffy's eyes, he added confidently, "I, on the other hand, am not messy."

Looking him up and down, Buffy just shrugged her shoulders. "How'd you know? _You_ haven't done the jumping off of great heights before. Have you?"

Watching her turn and leave, House thought about her last words. It almost sounded like she spoke from experience.

But how could that be? She was alive, no apparent scars. Unless you counted her eyes, he thought disturbed. For that one moment, Buffy had looked both lonely and like the weight of the world was resting on her shoulders.

It seemed like the enigma that was Olive Skin became bigger every time they met.

And he wouldn't be House if wasn't attempting to solve it.

It was time.

Time to find out what Cuddy managed to dig up on Olive Skin.

--

Later that day House watched Cuddy from his hiding spot just outside her office. Upon seeing her absently rubbing her temples, House decided now was as good a time as any.

Yes, she'd probably be pissed at him disturbing her, probably even aggravating her headache. But chances where pretty good she'd also take it as a sign to go home, or rather use the excuse of going home as an escape route from his annoying demands. Grinning at this thought, he moved towards her door and without further ado entered the office. Announcing himself by making as much noise as possible.

Having been deep in thought, Cuddy literally jumped when her door was so forcefully opened. However, knowing it could only be one person, she didn't look up, keeping at least some of her dignity in place.

"House, I didn't know you've cured your patient," Cuddy commented casually, saving and closing the document she'd been working on.

"I haven't. Yet." Leaning his cane onto her desk, he walked around to look over her shoulders, onto the screen.

"Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be diagnosing her, running tests and such?"

"I got lost in this maze you call hospital. And evil Wilson stole my magic map. Can't find neither her nor the labs."

"Su-ure." Drawling the word out, she put the files in front of her into the required order. "You know this hospital better than anyone."

House sighed theatrically, finding the way his breath played with her hair – and the quickly appearing Goosebumps on her skin – rather fascinating. "Woman! I just _told_ you evil Wilson stole my magic map. But fear not, I'm just stopping on my way to the next diagnostic test."

"I thought you can't find the lab?" Cuddy challenged.

"Don't need to."

"But you said you're on your way to … you're going to break into her apartment." Sighing in resignation, Cuddy shook her head. One day, this man was going to be the death of her.

"Nah. That would be illegal, wouldn't it. I'm just going to interview her personal belongings. As I speak front door, I just have to ask it politely to open for me. That clearly isn't breaking and entering," House explained as if he was talking to a five year old.

Looking at him in utter disbelieve, Cuddy just couldn't think of a reply to that. Shaking her head once more, she tried to push her chair back. Unfortunately, she found herself caught between her desk and his body. When he didn't show any signs of stepping back anytime soon, she turned in her chair as best as she could, looking into his face. "What else do you want."

He moved into her personal space, his face inching closer and closer towards her. Chuckling at the caught-in-the-headlight look entering her eyes, he finally turned her ever so slowly back towards the computer monitor.

"Olive Skin."

Annoyed at the reaction to his close presence, she replied harsher than she intended in the first place, "I told you before, ask Human Resources or the course coordinator."

"Cuddy, Cuddy, Cuddy." Shaking his head in mock surprise, he pushed her chair slightly to the side so he could sit on the edge of the table, resting his leg a bit. "You told me before that you know nothing and that I should ask Human Resources or the course coordinator."

Turning towards him, she looked at House in irritation. "That's exactly what I said now."

"No. You only mentioned the second bit. Not that you know nothing. So, spill."

"House."

"Cuddy." Watching her, eyes sparkling with amusement, he nodded towards her screen. "You know I'll get the information anyway. But by giving it to me, you'll make sure I won't piss several people off in the process of doing so."

Unfortunately, she couldn't agree more. Switching off her computer, she turned to him. "Buffy Anne Summers, born in 1981 in Los Angeles. She graduated from Sunnydale High in 1999, started at UC Sunnydale. She left before she was even halfway through her course and over a year later did her Bachelor of Physiotherapy in Rome. She graduated with Honours and applied for this program pretty straight afterwards."

"O-kay. What else. Where's the juicy bit?"

"There is none."

"Cuddy."

"I'm serious. The CV states only the most important bits. Date and place of birth, year of high school graduation, courses she did at UC Sunnydale. Then it picks up the next year when she enrolled in Rome. That part is actually longer and in more detail than anything before."

"Hm." Scrutinising her closely, House finally moved to the side, allowing her to stand up. Taking his cane, he waited for Cuddy to pick up her things and then followed her out of the hospital and towards her car, deep in thought.

Once she had climbed in, waiting for him to close the door behind her, he grinned down at her. "So, Lake Sunnydale. This is going to be fun."

Cuddy watched in defeat as he started to rub his hands together with glee.

Yes. It was going to be fun.

For him.

And probably a nightmare for her. Judging by what she saw last week, she didn't think Buffy Summers would just watch him enjoy himself on her costs. No, she was probably going to retaliate.

Therefore, Cuddy wasn't really sure about the fun bit.

But if anything, apart from messy that is, it was going to be interesting.

And, for whatever strange reason, she was already rooting for a short, blonde physiotherapist she had only met once before.

* * *

_A/N: I heard rumours about a mysterious purple button, that, once pushed, makes you feel all goo-ey inside :D! Come on, try it!_

* * *


	7. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Over the next ten days or so, Buffy took her extra workload in stride.

She didn't mind the work, in contrast, she really loved it. Her patients appeared to like her too, despite Dr Marmine seemingly giving all the challenging ones – personality wise challenging that is – to her. Still, even the worst of them were a walk in the park compared to living even just a single week in Sunnydale on top of the Hellmouth.

Thankfully there were others involved in her supervision, so despite Dr Marmine's best efforts, he couldn't find another reason to punish her. In fact, the only thing he managed to do was bringing the other supervisors onto her side.

The one point really bothering her was the constant increase in weird vibes coming from the hospital. She wasn't sure yet if it was because of her evil supervisor, who, despite looking completely different, reminded her more often than not of Principal Snyder, or if there was something else going on. She really, _really_ hoped it wasn't the latter one.

Pushing thoughts of Dr Marmine and any evilness in general aside, Buffy decided to enjoy her lunch with two of her co-workers instead. Entering the cafeteria right behind Kamil and Julian, she quickly had to sidestep them in order to avoid running straight into Kamil.

"Hey, what's up?" Buffy asked curiously while scanning the room for any explanation for their behaviour. Okay, maybe for any possible dangers too.

"Nothing, just looking for a free table." Kamil said while shrugging his shoulders.

"And I would believe you if it wasn't for the avoiding to look at me thing." Grinning knowingly, she added, "Of course, it has nothing to do with Grumpy Cane Guy at the end of the food line."

When two sets of comically wide open eyes stared back at her, Buffy chuckled and passed them, getting in line right next to House. Judging by their whispered repeat of her name for Dr House, they've met him or at least heard of his reputation before. Shaking her head almost unnoticeably, Buffy thought it was no wonder that House was, well, _House_. Why should he change the way he treated people if they reacted exactly like he wanted them to?

"So, finally decided you're hungry after all?" Buffy quipped after Kamil and Julian reluctantly joined her in the line.

"Hey! We were just trying to choose our lunch!" Julian defended their actions half-heartedly.

"Su-ure." Knowing House would be listening in, she added, "Wouldn't want you to go _grumpy_ just because you couldn't decide between a sugar _cane_ and healthy banana for dessert. So what's a _guy_ to do other than take his time in making the right choice, right?"

Although House was looking and kind of listening to Wilson, he involuntarily had to smirk at her reply. Olive skin sure had an interesting way with words. Judging by the blank looks of her companions, they didn't seem to appreciate it at all. Or get the meaning behind it. What a waste of a perfect quip.

"House!" Wilson promptly said shocked.

Annoyed of having his thoughts interrupted so rudely, he barked, "What?"

"My patient's dying is not funny!"

"Of course it isn't." Looking from the food display to his friend, House opened his mouth in mock-realisation. "Oh! You mean you _really_ thought I was listening to you? Come on, Wilson. How long have we known each other for?"

Rolling his eyes, Dr James Wilson sighed deeply. Sometimes he wondered if he'd ever learn or just why he had become House's friend. Or more importantly, why he actually _stayed_ his friend. Then again, life would be certainly much more boring without his misanthropic friend around. So, playing along, he replied, "Not long enough, apparently. Still, this doesn't mean-"

"Order. Or the nice lady might kill you with her death glare," House interrupted his friend in a stage-whisper, pointing to the waiting woman behind the counter. And true to his words, she was glaring daggers. Okay, her aim was off, why else would she look at him and not Wilson in front of him as _he_ was the one holding up the line. Maybe he should make her an appointment with an ophthalmologist. Now, wouldn't that be funny?

Grinning at that thought, he gave his own order. "One Reuben sandwich, hold the pickles." Looking to the dessert selection next to him, he saw Buffy - that name alone still made him chuckle – take the last triple chocolate yoghurt muffin from the display. A fraction of a second before he decided that this is exactly what he was going to have for dessert. Because he could. Not even looking at her, he took the muffin from her tray and put it on his own.

"House!" James Wilson exclaimed shocked. "You can't do that!"

"I just did." Looking towards Buffy, he asked in a surprised voice. "You weren't going to eat it, were you? Just think of all that fat dying to move onto your hips!"

Ignoring the gasps from her friends behind her, she looked House straight in the eye, raising her eyebrows in a silent challenge. Then, without uttering a single word, she turned towards the woman behind the counter. "Two Reuben sandwiches, extra pickles and a large side order of fries please."

Turning back, Buffy grinned at House who answered with a smirk of his own. Chuckling quietly, not only at Buffy's order but also Wilson's face when he looked towards him again, he non-too-gently pushed Wilson towards the cash register.

"Thanks for paying. I must have misplaced my wallet again."

"I can see it just fine in your back pocket," Wilson replied resigned.

"Really? Must be empty then as I can't feel it." Not even waiting for an answer, House put his sandwich onto Wilson's tray and added a bottle of water as well. "I'll go and find us a table." Nodding almost unnoticeable to Buffy, House limped to his and Wilson's usual table. The one that miraculously emptied itself as soon as House entered the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Buffy's co-workers still hadn't found their voices after the close brush with House and thought Buffy was the same. Buffy, however, was already planning her revenge. Once she had paid, she took her tray to a nearby empty table and bent down to re-lace her perfectly laced sneakers, telling her friends she'd be right behind them.

Then, taking her tray up again, she slowly followed their general direction. Seeing a certain doctor watching her every move, she – just like she had planned – changed direction towards his table. Seeing his eyes twinkling with amusement while also noticing a slight blush creeping up on House's friend, Buffy's expression didn't give away any of her intentions. Or that she had any intentions in the first place.

House, seeing her changing direction, decided that he would have his dessert first for a change. Making sure Buffy knew exactly what he was about to do, he slowly moved his hands towards the, admittedly delicious smelling, muffin just as she closed in on his table.

However, when he was about to grab the aforementioned piece of dessert, he found his hand coming up empty.

This time, the shock on his face wasn't fake. Especially after seeing the muffing magically appearing on a certain physiotherapist's tray.

Ignoring House completely, Buffy smiled sweetly at the clearly shell-shocked Dr Wilson. "Thanks for buying me dessert. I'll make sure to repay the favour next time I see you."

Without further ado Buffy walked over to her co-workers, apparently ignorant of the dead-silence that had descended onto the cafeteria. Sitting down on the last free spot on their table Buffy dug into her food heartily. Picking up the faint chuckle coming from House's table, a slow smile started to spread across her face. And while her friends where still speechless, the noise level in the cafeteria moved towards its normal range again.

In the far corner, Dr Lisa Cuddy could just sit and stare at both House and a certain Buffy Summers. She had expected their meetings to become interesting, but this, this was both far better and far worse than she had hoped for. However, seeing House speechless – even if it was only for a few seconds – was well worth anything that would surely come in the future.

Hopefully.

--

For the next ten minutes Buffy enjoyed her lunch in silence. Kamil and Julian where throwing the occasional admiring glances in her direction, but otherwise kept silent and ate their own lunch. Buffy didn't mind at all.

While they all, including Keelan, the last member of their little group, had become something like casual friends ever since Dr Marmine did treat her so unfairly, she wasn't going to tell them all her secrets at once. Or at all. However, the shared lunch-time was a good start in her book. And, in contrast to the first week, the guys had learned to respect her decisions to stay away from their occasional evening outings. Not because she didn't like them, but because she just wasn't into it.

But, right now, food was the only thought on her mind. Unfortunately, just as Buffy was starting on her second sandwich and the leftover fries, a furious looking Dr Marmine was walking into her field of vision.

"Miss Summers! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Without bashing an eyelid she looked between her plate and Dr Marmine. "I believe it's commonly known as having lunch."

"I can see that!" He all but spit out.

By now, the noise level in the cafeteria had gone down again, everyone being rather curious at what would happened now.

"Then what's the problem?" Buffy asked before taking another bite of her rather delicious sandwich. Not that she ever had one of them before, but after hearing House's order, she just couldn't resist. She would have to thank him later for that. Much later. If at all.

"You were supposed to see me at one o'clock. Now it's quarter past. If you can't even keep up the simplest of appointments, you clearly chose the wrong profession!"

Carefully, Buffy put down the remainder of her Reuben. Looking Dr Marmine straight in the eyes, not even thinking of backing down from his supposedly intimidating stare from above, she replied rather calmly, "I am afraid I'm not very apt at telepathic conversations yet or I would surely have been there. I know it's a liability, but I'm afraid I still need somebody to tell me about any appointments I have or I'm going to miss even more of them in the future."

Across the room, House was grinning. This lunch was the best he had in years. He wondered briefly if he could find a needle to test his theory that right about now, a dropping needle would cause more than one person to jump in their seats. Buffy seemed to have the unique ability to completely quieten the cafeteria within seconds.

Not believing the woman in front of him, Dr Marmine leaned in even closer, shouting straight into her face. "Or maybe you should clean your allocated desk space so you can actually find the notes put there. And I should know, I put it this particular one there myself only this morning."

"Ah, that explains it then. As you might recall, I have been with patients from 6:00 a.m. straight and never had time to go to my desk." Buffy replied calmly. Yet, in the quiet cafeteria her reply could be heard loud and clear even in the last corner.

House, raising his eyebrows at the implications of Buffy's reply, had heard enough. Besides, he'd also seen Cuddy about to get up, ready to step in and he couldn't have her take away his fun, could he?

"Hey! Dr Marmite!" Waving his cane, House noticed the confused look on Dr Marmine's face with evil satisfaction.

"Mine." Wilson corrected out of the corner of his mouth.

"Yours? Hey, but I found him first! And _I'm_ the cripple here." House whined in a stage-whisper, which, due to the quietness around could be heard in every corner of the cafeteria. Then, just because he could, House repeated his request for attention. "Dr Marmite!"


	8. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

_"Hey! Dr Marmite!" Waving his cane, House noticed the confused look on Dr Marmine's face with evil satisfaction._

_"Mine." Wilson corrected out of the corner of his mouth._

_"Yours? Hey, but I found him first! And I'm the cripple here." House whined in a stage-whisper, which, due to the quietness around could be heard in every corner of the cafeteria. Then, just because he could, House repeated his request for attention. "Dr Marmite!"_

**Chapter 7**

Realising there were too many people that could actually verify Buffy Summer's story, Cliff Marmine thought it better to use the out Dr House offered him.

Glaring once more at this student, he turned and without uttering another word walked over to the infamous Dr House. Of course, he knew of his reputation and brilliance. Cliff had tried to get his hands on Dr House for quite some time now. Maybe he finally decided on trying out some physiotherapy after all? Even if there was only the tiniest possibility of this being true, Cliff wasn't going to let a personal vendetta getting into the way of possible fame. Because, surely, he would be able to improve Dr House' condition considerably.

"Dr House, what can I do for you?" Smiling at him, Cliff used _his_ infamous soothing voice.

While Buffy was devouring the rest of her food, Kamil and Julian couldn't stop staring. They couldn't believe she'd just go on with her lunch like nothing had happened!

Sure, both of them knew there was nothing Dr Marmine could do about Buffy missing an appointment she clearly had no chance to know about, there were too many witnesses for that after all, but right now Dr Marmine was talking to the one and only person that she'd stolen her muffin from! And there were enough witnesses for _that_ too!

"He's going to fire you," Julian said sadly. "Especially after Dr House tells him about you stealing his food."

"Surely," Kamil joined in just as pessimistically. They might have had a shaky start at best, but now that some kind of friendship had started to grow between them, he didn't want to loose that. He'd really miss her quirky and sometimes dry sense of humour.

Shrugging her shoulders, Buffy put the napkin she had used to clean her fingers with down and reached for _the_ muffin. "Naw, House won't tell. He had way too much fun. And Marmine would have to find another person he can be all pushy with just so he can feel all strong and important. He's too lazy for that. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Closing her eyes, she blocked out most noises from her surroundings and simply enjoyed the first bite of the chocolate rich muffin, letting the flavours explode on her tongue. However, she didn't miss a single word from the conversation at House's table.

"Dr Marmite, I-"

"Marmine," Cliff corrected patiently. Almost sounding belittling too.

"No, thanks. I really don't like the stuff. Whoever thought the leftover yeast from brewing beer is edible must have been insane." House replied dismissively, moving his hand in concordance with his words.

Hearing that, Buffy couldn't help but chuckle. Having tried Marmite – as in the very British, very yucky yeasty bread spread – herself, she could only agree with his description. How Giles, and if she believed the grapevine, her own little sister Dawn, could like that stuff was far beyond her.

"No, my name is Dr Marmine, not marmite," Cliff corrected with a slight hitch in his voice. "And Marmite is the food, not marmine."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Wilson, having known House for as long as he did, could only shake his head at the fake apology. Although, seeing Dr Marmine accept it, left him stare open mouthed too. How anyone could be so ignorant as the guy in front of him was beyond Wilson.

Sighing theatrically, House looked at his friend. "Wilson, I already told you – _twice_ – that you don't have tonsillitis! Showing your tonsils to me over and over again won't change that diagnosis."

Aforementioned mouth shut with an audible thud.

Turning back to Dr Marmine, House continued, "You were saying?"

"You called me!" Cliff replied, the hitch in his voice becoming more pronounced now.

"I did?" House asked, playing confused.

Knowing the game, Wilson rolled his eyes before doing the inevitable. Playing along. Funnily enough, starting to dislike Dr Marmine made the exercise rather enjoyable. "You did."

"I did. Right." Tapping his chin, House appeared to be in deep thought. Eyes suddenly lighting up, he continued, "I did! I had this sudden epiphany of trying some physiotherapy on my bum leg."

Eyes brightening, Cliff forgot about the previous teases – if he recognised them in the first place, that is. "That-"

Putting on his, according to Wilson, creepy smile, House interrupted him. "I know, I know. My limp is hardly noticeable."

"Huh?" Now Marmine was confused. Everyone knew about House's limp. In fact, he used every opportunity to make sure every single person in the hospital knew it. So Cliff didn't really get that last comment.

Or heard Buffy's snicker.

"But I thought a bit of physiotherapy might help with it even more. Especially when I get these cramps right where the muscle is missing. I always wondered how a missing muscle can cramp though. Anyway, with these cramps and I'm just too weak and need the occasional Vicodin to cope with the pain," House continued seriously.

Unfortunately, Wilson was taking a sip of his coffee – and spit it all over Dr Marmine at House's last comment. Blushing brightly, he apologised profoundly, "I'm so sorry! I really don't know how that could happened!"

"Wilson, Wilson," shaking his head in disapproval, House handed a napkin to Dr Marmine. "You'll have to excuse him. He has a little problem with holding his drinks."

In contrast to Wilson, Buffy managed to swallow her drink. If barely.

Trying to, unsuccessfully, clean the coffee off his lab coat, Cliff shook his head dismissively. "It's okay. So, Dr House, what kind of goals did you have in mind for your therapy?"

"Gosh. Well. I was thinking about entering the charity four-mile run Dr Cuddy was organising in two month," House replied, looking hopefully at the idiot in front of him.

"Now, Dr House, I'm not sure that will be possible," Dr Marmine replied rather patronising.

Wilson just shook his head. House wasn't even trying all that hard to hide he was mocking him. Still, Dr Marmine didn't even show the slightest notion of knowing what was really going on. Also, looking over at Buffy's table, he was pretty sure he saw her shoulders shaking slightly. Surely, with the background noise at it's normal level again, she couldn't overhear their conversation. Could she?

Making a long face, House looked onto his hands. "Oh."

"I'm sorry. But we can at least try and improve your general comfort? I'm sure the remaining muscle tightens up a lot from the strain it has to take by providing all the extra work. So, even some simple massages to loosen those muscles, if done regularly, should help. As for anything else, I'd have to do an exact assessment to see what we can do."

Hearing this, Wilson had to admit that apart from being an idiotic jerk, Dr Marmine seemed to at least know what he was talking about. Then again, he wouldn't still be at the hospital if he didn't. Dr Cuddy would have sent him on his way a long time ago. Recognising a good opportunity when he saw one, Wilson quickly nipped into the conversation, looking directly at House. "That sounds good. Maybe you should start with the massages, see if they help?"

Furrowing his brow, House threw Wilson a withering glance. However, backing down now would look rather stupid on his part and he knew Wilson knew it as well. "Maybe."

Almost jumping with excitement, Dr Marmine suggested, "Why don't you come by my office and we'll make an appointment for getting a closer look at your leg? Then we can see what else I might be able to do for you?"

"I'm quite busy now. Just come by my office and, if I'm in, we can see about the massage. See how it goes." Preferable not at all, House added in his mind. He hated when he got carried away and someone was there to see and brave enough to use it against him. Apparently he hadn't trained Wilson well enough. Yet.

"If there's no other way," Dr Marmine replied deflated.

"No. I'm sorry." Or not. Then again, he might get a good opportunity to torture whoever Marmine was going to sent along. Looking at his clearly silent pager, he feigned surprise once more. "Gosh! It might go off any minute now. I better go!" Not waiting for an answer, House took his cane and limped towards the exit. As he was passing Buffy's table, he gave her a quick once-over, nodding approvingly at seeing her empty plate.

Buffy, returning his nod, realised that apart from messing with someone else House had actually done so to help her. Even though she doubted he'd ever admit to anything like this.

Dr Marmine was about to follow Dr House to his students' table, finishing off what he came in here to do in the first place, when he was interrupted once more.

"Dr Marmine, can I have a word, please."

--

Dr Cuddy had been ready to step in the moment Dr Marmine had shouted at Buffy Summers, but House had been faster. Too curious to see what House was up to, especially after witnessing the muffin incident before, Cuddy had remained seated and watched. But now that House was finished, it was time for her have a word as well.

"Dr Cuddy! How are you?" Dr Marmine asked, surprised to be approached in the cafeteria of all places.

"Good. Thank you. Do you mind walking me to my office?"

"Of course not." He was too flustered by her attention to hear the slightly steely undertone in her voice. As they passed Buffy's table, he added, "If you'll excuse me for a moment."

Raising her eyebrows, Cuddy just nodded, waiting to see what he would do.

"Miss Summers."

"Dr Marmine," Buffy acknowledged.

"I expect to see you in my office." Remembering the Dean of Medicine standing next to him, he added hastily, "Once you finished lunch."

"Of course," she replied. Waiting a second, she added innocently, "Who shall I give my next patient to?"

"Oh. They take priority, of course. We'll meet when you're finished then," Dr Marmine agreed quickly, feeling rather generous.

"No problem. I'll see you at 9p.m. then."

Dr Marmine looked at Buffy in shock. "What?"

"I'm afraid I'm busy until that time. We've got a few outpatients coming in who couldn't make any earlier appointments," Buffy explained patiently. On the inside, however, she was gloating. Especially after watching something akin to a storm brewing in Dr Cuddy's face. A storm she wasn't going to be the centre of.

"Tomorrow then."

"I'm working from 6a.m. to 8p.m." Buffy said apologising, only barely keeping a straight face. Allowing her eyes to become even bigger, she looked at him through her eyelashes. "Do you prefer before or after?"

Before he could reply, Dr Cuddy stepped in, her voice as icy as it would get. "He'll see you before. 5:45 a.m. should be fine, I believe."

"But-" Dr Marmine protested open-mouthed. He never came into work before 8a.m.!

"Sure." Buffy agreed at the same time, smiling brightly at both Dr Cuddy and Dr Marmine.

"Good. Now Dr Marmine, if you'll follow me, please." Turning briskly, Cuddy all but stormed out of the cafeteria.

Nodding, Marmine all but stumbled after her. This wasn't how he expected things to happen. And, of course, it was all Summers' fault.

Once they left, Buffy turned to her new friends, grinning. "See, told you it was going to be fine."

"Dr Marmine is going to hate you even more now," Julian pointed out.

Shrugging her shoulders, Buffy glanced at her watch. "I don't care. I've already dealt with lots of people that make him look like the picture-perfect son-in-law. He doesn't bother me. Besides, Dr Cuddy didn't seemed too pleased with him, so she'll give me the benefit of a doubt if anything should happened. Anyway, I have another appointment in five minutes, so I'll better be all gone now. Catch ya later!"

Picking up her empty tray, Buffy waved at them before heading to the exit.

Leaving not only Kamil and Julian to wonder what would come out of this.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far! Reviews make Muse happy and, unfortunately, have her nagging me to go back to writing already…_


	9. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Lisa Cuddy was wondering what else could possibly go wrong when the door to her office was opened non too gently.

Again.

"House. One, you should really be old enough to have mastered the ability of knocking. Two, Dr Marmine just left and I'm so _not_ in the mood for another squabble. Three, we have a possible situation in the paediatric ward. I really don't have time for you now," she said tiredly without looking up from the papers in front of her.

"But mommy, mommy! The bully stole my cake!" House whined, leaning on the opposite side of her desk, enjoying the view.

"Yes. All 5'3'' of her. Besides, it was a triple chocolate yoghurt muffin, _not_ a cake," Cuddy deadpanned without batting an eyelash.

Sighing theatrically, he put both his hands over his heart. "I think I'm in love."

Cuddy just snorted, although she couldn't suppress the threatening smile completely.

"In fact, I don't think I can concentrate enough for clinic duty," House continued in a faraway voice.

"Keep on dreaming. You still owe me another hour today."

"Even if I might mistreat a patient due to my in love-iness?"

Refusing to even look up, Cuddy kept on shuffling through the papers in front of her. "House, you always mistreat your patients. In love-iness – is that even a word? – or not!"

"Bummer." His face matching aforementioned phrase, House almost pouted when Cuddy didn't even _notice_ his perfect I'm-truly-disappointed expression. He'd worked on it for hours!

Instead, she just signed the file in front of her. Bah.

Meanwhile, Cuddy kept on ignoring House on purpose and grabbed the next file. "Indeed. I'm the one who has to deal with the consequences, remember?"

House chose not to, of course. "So, did that Marmite guy leave in one piece?"

Despite a quickly approaching headache, Cuddy couldn't help herself but smile at the loathing in House's voice. "Barely. He even forgot to change the appointment I arranged between him and Miss Summers. And his name is Marmine."

Topping up the empty water glass on her desk, he took two Tylenol from the bottle on the table and held them into Cuddy's field of vision. "I bet his girlfriend won't be too impressed either."

Stopping her hand containing the pills in mid-motion, Cuddy looked at House with raised eyebrows. "Girlfriend?"

"Tall, dark-ish complex, anorexic looking, no puppies, working in Snobbish Hospital across town," House summoned up dismissively.

"Snobbish Hospital?" Cuddy asked while shaking her head at his antics. Not waiting for an answer, and not expecting one either, she continued, "Anyway, is there anything you don't know?"

House just shrugged his shoulders and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Well, I'm not sure when you last fed _your_ puppies." In contrast to his words, his expression became serious. Looking straight into her eyes, he asked, "What's that about the parasite ward?"

Sighing, Cuddy threw her hands up in frustration. "I don't know!"

"No!" House exclaimed in mock-shock, before he quickly became serious again. "What's happening? Need a good looking diagnostician to save your perfectly formed backside?"

Cuddy just shook her head as if she still couldn't believe it, ignoring the second part of his comment completely. "It was almost unnoticeable at first, but comparing this month' numbers with those from five month ago, the number of unexplained deaths has gone up considerably. But only of those children being between the age of three and eleven."

"Why them?" House asked curiously.

"I don't know! We went back over all the records. Some of them had cancer, others accidents or routine operations and all of them had started to get better. Until they suddenly died. There was nothing unexpected in their blood work, no unexplained infections, no medication mess-ups. Nothing!" Clearly frustrated, Cuddy started pacing in front of him. "It's like whatever is causing it started off cautiously but became bolder as time went on and nobody detected anything unusual."

"So the question really isn't what but who."

"That's the thing, I don't know if there is a _who_. Even if there is, how are we going to figure out _who_ if we don't even know _how_?" Taking a deep breath, Cuddy stopped right in front of him, hoping he'd come up with the perfect solution for this problem. Right now, she'd promise him almost anything if he'd only find an explanation.

Reading her thoughts, House let a small smile play around his lips before asking, "Who brought it to your attention?"

"Dr Clarence, a paediatrician fellow. Last month she came back from her four month maternity leave and worried about the number of deaths. She went through the records and then came to me with the results," Cuddy explained tiredly.

House nodded thoughtfully. "So you keep working with her as it can't possibly be her."

"Yes. But I've since talked with everybody on the paediatric ward and everyone seemed just as shocked by the revelations. We introduced additional checks before each change of treatment and also before any medications are given, increased the hygienic routines for doctors and nurses to avoid unnecessary infections."

"And you just had another death," House stated matter of fact.

Stopping her pacing, Cuddy slumped into her chair, defeated. "Seven year old boy, car accident. Ruptured liver, concussion, broken arm and the usual cuts and bruises. It was touch and go on the first day but then he was improving greatly. The concussion was almost gone, his liver functions were moving back to normal, there were no sign of secondary infections. Still, he started to become weaker and weaker overnight and died within six hours. I ordered an extensive autopsy, but it came back completely normal."

"Well, apart from him being dead." Knowing when he had shot way over the target, House quickly apologised. "Sorry."

Cuddy just nodded. "We still have to wait for the toxicology reports. Though going by previous results, they will be just as normal as all the others we've done during the last month."

Eyebrows furrowed, House suggested the first thing coming to his mind. "So the autopsy was messed up."

"All of them?" Cuddy shook her head at that notion. "Besides, we started to send out blood and tissue sample to other labs for reference. Nothing. They all came back with the same result. No abnormalities."

"Is the body still here?" House asked thoughtfully and Cuddy nodded in confirmation. "Can I have a look?"

"Why not." Releasing another deep sigh, she started to rub her temples again. "After you've done your clinic hours."

"But-"

Shaking her head as if to dare House to contradict her, Cuddy elaborated, "As much as I want the puzzle to be solved, I still have a hospital to run. And right now, we are overflowing with clinic patients."

"What if they suddenly start dying too? I mean, we don't really know what killed the kids. Was it something airborne? Was it intentional or human error, simply bad luck or, hell, even something supernatural." Although, if House was honest, the last two were only added for effect. The idea probably coming from the show he watched on TV last night. "It might get the clinic patients too."

Eyes wide open, Cuddy looked up in alarm. "Don't even start!"

"I'm just careful. You know, you always tell me to be more careful," House replied innocently. Or, translated into House-speak – I'd do anything to avoid clinic duty.

"Right." Annoyed at him still trying to get out of clinic duty, Cuddy added snidely. "Then you'll just have to be extra vigilant and make sure our clinic patients are safe!"

Accepting he couldn't win this fight without going much farther than he wanted to, House nodded. "Okay. Clinic first, autopsy later."

"Tha-" Suddenly an earlier comment from House registered and her head stopped in mid-motions, eyes opening comically wide.

No.

No. No. No. No. _NO_!

That couldn't be.

Impossible.

She had left that part behind a long, long time ago and vowed to never look back. It had cost her so much. It was simply too painful.

Still. House mentioning something supernatural as possible cause for the children's deaths had opened a door, or rather uncovered a hidden hatch, Cuddy thought had been lost a long time ago.

Or at least overgrown by something impenetrable.

A door she never wanted to open again. But now that this tiny grain of doubt had made itself comfortable in her brain, it wouldn't leave again. No, all it would do was grow. And that it already did rapidly.

What if he House was right? Although, without a doubt he'd only thrown it in for effect or whatever. She was pretty sure of that.

Whimpering pitifully, she buried her face in her hands.

"Cuddy?" Hearing the true concern in his voice, she just shook her head.

Damn him! Why did he have to open those old wounds again? With nothing but a careless comment at that? Somehow it was all House' fault! It just had to be!

Feeling rather then hearing him coming closer, Cuddy quietly chanted to herself. _Please don't touch me, please don't touch me._

His hand was warm and reassuring on her shoulder. Great. So much for her telepathic powers. Maybe she needed to try harder.

_Please don't say anything. Please don't say anything._

"Cuddy? What's wrong?"

Okay, apparently second time isn't the charm either. And she wasn't sure she had the strength for a third.

For once House was clueless at what was happening. He'd understand her reaction if he'd insisted on the autopsy in favour of doing his clinic hours, but he hadn't. He had agreed to her wishes. So what was going on here?

Next to him, Cuddy was in agony. Emotional pain raw enough to make her whole body scream at her in physical pain was running through her whole being. All Cuddy wanted to do was to curl up in the corner of her couch and shut out everything around her.

Meanwhile House was standing next to her, subconsciously stroking up and down her back. Furrowing his brows, he looked her over for the umpteenth time in the last couple of minutes. But as much as tried to find any signs of physical distress, he couldn't find anything. And there was a reason he didn't do emotional. He was just contemplating if he should move her hands from her face, when Cuddy, thankfully, spoke up again.

"Just… just go. Do your clinic hours. Do your autopsy. Whatever. Just go." Her voice was shaky at best, but she looked at him with dry eyes.

Scrutinising her for a long time, House finally nodded. He _really_ didn't do emotional. "I'll be at the clinic." Giving her shoulder another squeeze, he took his cane and left her office.

Following House, locking the door behind him, she could hear him gruffly advising her secretary to not disturb Cuddy for the next while. For whatever reason, this was enough to break the dam holding back her tears. Quickly covering her mouth with both her hands to muffle the escaping sobs, all Cuddy could do was move to her couch and curl up like she'd imagined only minutes earlier.

--

At the same time Buffy had just finished with her first patient after lunch and had a couple of minutes until her next. Having only seen the sun through the hospital windows that day, she decided to go for the real thing.

Choosing the shortest way, which happened to be through the walk-in clinic, she smiled as soon as she could feel the sun gently stroking her face. She'd never thought she'd say this, but sometimes she really missed California.

Frowning as the thought of California brought up another issue, Buffy let her slayer senses out to play without restrictions. It took only a minute for her to realise that the weirdness-factor had went up another three or four notches in the past day or two. There was definitely something going on here. She was about to do some more exploring, when her train of thoughts was interrupted.

"Buffy Summers?" A hesitant voice asked next to her.

Pulling the slayer back, she slowly opened her eyes to find a nervous nurse standing in front of her. A glance at her wristwatch told her she still had a few minutes, so that couldn't be it. Then, picking up a very faint sense of … something, she intuitively moved into more of a defensive position.

Eyes opening in alarm, the nurse, Brenda according to her name tag, raised both her hands in a peaceful gesture. "No, no! I'm not … I haven't … I'm only half… I've never done anything. I'm just trying to live a normal life."

Raising an eyebrow in question, Buffy made no further advance towards her but nodded slightly, motioning for her to continue. Her only being a half-demon would explain the rather weak weird-vibes coming from her. And the amulet Buffy saw peaking out from under Brenda's uniform might have something to do with it as well.

Taking a deep, if shaky, breath, Brenda interrupted Buffy's thoughts. "But there's something going on here. Something bad. And it's getting more frequent."

"Okay." Nodding curtly, Buffy relaxed a tiny bit. She could listen first, and maybe slay later. "What do you know."

"I can … uhm … I can taste the fear. Literally." Brenda started nervously. "It's my thing. That's why I work in a hospital, there's enough of it already to give that nice buzz. Kind of like a bonus to the salary. But that's all, I swear. I can't enhance it or anything."

"Go on." She'd have to put her on her observation list. Although she was pretty sure Brenda wasn't lying. And she obviously knew her, or rather of her, to be afraid. Very afraid.

Good.

"It started a while back. One morning I came to work and there was suddenly more of it. Or rather the remains of fear lingering around. At first I shrugged it off as it seemed to be a one-time occurrence. Then it happened again. And again. The interval became shorter and, I don't know, it feels different to me. More potent, having a supernatural touch to it too, if you know what I mean."

Raising her eyebrows again, Buffy looked at her watch. She only had three more minutes left if she didn't want to be late. But this was important.

Brenda, catching onto Buffy's time pressure and not wanting to end up on her bad side, quickly continued, "It began to almost make me, well, high on certain days. Interfering with my work. So I started to ask questions. It's the paediatricians ward. They have an increase in unexplained deaths there. I went up to have a look, but the fear became too strong for me to handle safely."

Buffy's face, especially her eyes, hardened even more. Someone, _something_, was going for the innocent. In _her_ hospital. She was- ! No, loosing her head wouldn't help anyone.

Taking a calming breath, she went with her instinct. Grabbing pen and paper that were peaking out from Brenda's pockets, she quickly scribbled down her mobile number. "Call or message me when it gets stronger again."

Handing it back to the perplexed nurse, she hadn't even registered the Slayer taking pen and paper until she was almost finished writing on it, Buffy quickly turned and headed for her next patient without glancing back.

Work first.

But definitely slay later. Nobody was messing with her hospital!

Brenda, on the other hand, had to take a couple of deep breaths to calm down. So that was The Slayer. The Chosen One. Of course she had heard of her, but after finally having met her in person – and survived – she could understand the fear she inspired in the demon world.

Among the smart ones anyway.

And she considered herself smart. She had built her life, founded her own family without them knowing of her darker side. But, as she had told Buffy, she had found the perfect way to combine her need for a taste of fear – not unlike a vampires need for blood – with the human world around her. She was only taking what was already there, not going as far as causing fear like so many of her kind. No, she was smart and loved her life. Or rather _being_ alive.

She wasn't going to take any chance. Not after she had witnessed her father's – the demon's – violent death by the Slayer of that time. She had only been a little girl, not really understanding that she and her daddy were different to the people around her. Or that hurting others in the way that was her and her daddy's secret was wrong, even though it made her feel so _good_ inside.

Thinking about it now, she didn't now why the dark-skinned Slayer had spared her life. Instead, she had taken her aside and told her why it was wrong to do as her dad had done. Why she had to kill him. It wasn't an easy task to do with a four year old, but the Slayer had found the right words. Had made them stick in Brenda's mind. And, knowing from her watcher's research what it was the demon in the little girl was aching for, the Slayer had told Brenda that there was already enough fear in the world for her to harvest without causing any harm.

Then she had taken Brenda by the hand and shown her. And, despite only being four years old, Brenda had understood. As had her mother when the Slayer had taken Brenda home. This was another thing that still amazed her today, how her mother had reacted so calmly to the announcement of her ex-husband's death. She once had asked her, and all her mother had said was that she was glad to have been shown a way to help her daughter. That one day, when Brenda would have children of her own, she'd understand.

And she had, the moment she realised that the demon part her children had inherited from her didn't have influence on them. At all.

Looking at her watch, Brenda quickly put out the cigarette she had started on to calm her nerves. Walking back into the hospital she chuckled, wondering how a certain Dr House would react to her being nothing less than a half-demon.

* * *

_A/N: Well, Brenda was always going to be a demon or such. But what Muse made out of that, well, I'm completely innocent and had nothing to do with it… Once again thanks for all the reviews! Please keep them coming :D. _


	10. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Eyes blinking open in confusion, Cuddy didn't really know where she was at first. Then she remembered. She must have fallen asleep, exhausted after her crying jag. She wasn't exactly proud of letting herself slip at work, but however emotional drained it had left her, she was finally able to think clear again.

More than anything though, she was surprised by the intensity of her response to the, maybe not so, simple notion of supernatural happenings in her hospital. Then again, she hadn't allowed herself to ponder about those things for such a long time, that the sudden and completely unexpected reminder might just have been too much.

But she would handle it. She always had.

Getting up, her legs wobbly at first after being stuck in an uncomfortable position for some time, Cuddy quickly walked into her little bathroom to clean herself up.

She really, _really_ hoped that House was going to find evidence of a complication with the children they couldn't have picked up. Or even foul-play by somebody of her staff.

As long as it was man-made.

As long as there wasn't anything mystical or any non-human being involved.

Hell, she'd actually relieve House of some of his clinic hours if he did her that favour!

However, after allowing herself to believe in House's abilities to solve everything, she had to look back at the facts. There were too many unexplained deaths lately. They've done every possible test they could think of. And although they could say what hadn't killed the children, they couldn't say what had either.

Despite all her fears and aversion against the supernatural, she couldn't ignore this possibility.

If she was right and didn't do anything when she could, more children are most certainly going to die. And knowing she might have been able to do something about it, preventing more innocents from going down that road, would surely if slowly kill her.

If she was wrong, fine. She would have opened some old and very painful wounds. But she would survive. Like always. And maybe, just _maybe_, it was time to get in contact with that part of her past once more.

No, she had no choice.

It had started off as an ordinary day in spring, she and her friends having enjoyed the first real warm day of the year. But when she had entered her house, she could immediately tell that something was off.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, her mind immediately bombarded her with images from the past that she had buried for such a long time.

_Her parents were sitting in the living room and she was unable to identify the expression on their faces. Knowing she didn't do anything to get herself into trouble, Lisa was even more confused. Then she noticed a kind of uptight looking young man sitting opposite her parents. He wasn't really looking at anyone but was nervously cleaning his glasses while explaining how she was something called a Potential. The more he told them, the more dazed she became. _

_Her eyes became wider and wider with every minute he was going on about all the creatures of ones nightmares. How all of them – and more – were very real. Naturally, she didn't believed him at first. But then she looked at her parents and for the first time in her 14 years she saw real fear in their eyes. _

_They were her parents. They were supposed to protect her. To fight off any evil that might come her way. But now, somehow, they believed this Rupert Giles as he had introduced himself. _

_Still, that didn't mean she would too. But, nevertheless, she decided she would listen to him. For now. _

_Of course, then all the talk about how she needed to be trained in case she would be called started. Martial arts? Well, that sounded kind of cool, so she didn't object – despite still not believing him completely. _

_The first few months of her training were fun. She learned the basics of several martial arts and really enjoyed it. She even listened to Mr Giles' lectures about this vampire or that demon. But then summer fully kicked in. As did her hormones and her body was rapidly developing into something more resembling a young woman than a girl. _

_And then she madly, truly, deeply fell in love for the first time. _

_Jamal. _

_He was three years older and oh so much wiser and mature than the boys from her class. He took her to the park, to the cinema, to parties of his friends. Which meant her missing first one, then more and more lessons with the still way too uptight Mr Giles. The more Mr Giles pushed her to come to his lessons, the more time she spent with Jamal. This was the First Law of being a teenager after all._

_It didn't help that her parents didn't really known what do to with their newfound knowledge of the actual nightlife and the possibility of their daughter becoming some sort of superhero to fight them – only to die a very premature death. So, intended or not, she suddenly found herself with much more freedom then before to do as she pleased. _

_Her parents barely questioned her coming back late, assuming she spent most of the time with Mr Giles. And she used every single bit of that to her advantage. She was a teenager, remember? Her lack of commitment never changed, even after Mr Giles complained to her parents about her fading discipline concerning the lessons. It seemed to, the by now 15 year old, Lisa that as long as her grades in school weren't suffering – which they weren't – she could basically do as she wanted. _

_Then her pregnancy test came back positive and her world literally shattered around her. From one second to another she went from a sophisticated young woman who would take on the world back to being just an average girl on the steps to womanhood. Back to the girl that she had been before puberty had kicked in full force. Before Mr Giles had appeared. Only now she was a hell of a lot more scared of her future. And it had nothing to do with an early death after becoming a mystical warrior._

_For the first time in several month she actually wished for her mom to tuck her in at night again and kiss all the pain and fear away. Of course, that didn't happen. After a couple of days feeling miserable and sorry for herself, she finally confided in Mr Giles. In contrast to her parents, he actually asked what was wrong and after contemplating telling him, she finally just blurted it out._

_After a bit, well, a lot of, stuttering on his side Mr Giles finally walked to her and embraced her in a comforting hug. As awkward as it was, it was all she needed to finally let the tears run free. Once she was cried out, for that time anyway, he convinced her to talk to her parents. And that she did. There were more tears and the distance that had been building in the last few month was too big to just disappear, but at least her parents tried to understand. And to help. _

_Jamal was just as shocked but didn't run away either, despite their relationship showing the first signs of cooling down already. They were both honest enough to admit that marriage wouldn't be the way to go. Despite everything else, they were simply too young. However, he promised to support any decision she would make. So, after long talks with her parents and also Mr Giles she decided to keep the baby. It would be hard, but they'd find a way to make everything work. She almost believed in it too._

_She didn't known it then, but the Watchers' Council wasn't happy with her decision. At all. However, Mr Giles acted as a buffer between her and them, so she never really learned about that until much later. Therefore, at that time, she wasn't suspicious about the invitation for an afternoon tea with someone else from the Watchers' Council when Mr Giles had been conveniently called to London for an important meeting. She wasn't suspicious when afterwards she suddenly thought that giving her baby up for adoption was the best choice. She was only 15 after all. The plan she'd worked out with her parents that would allow her to finish her education while still caring for her baby was suddenly forgotten._

_As her parents had always been a bit worried if they made the right choice, it was somewhat easier to accept the decision. Jamal was relieved as well, although he so far he had kept his promise and even came to the doctor's appointments with her. Mr Giles was probably the one most surprised by the turn of events. But as Lisa didn't even mention the meeting with another member of the Watchers' Council, he wasn't suspicious either._

_She gave birth to her daughter on her 16__th__ birthday. Glad the whole ordeal was over, she didn't even want to look at the baby. True, she was sad at first, but at the same time she felt strangely detached from everything._

_For the next years, everything was fine and she barely thought of her baby. Within a couple of month after giving birth, she wasn't considered to be a Potential anymore and Mr Giles left. She finished school and went back on track to prepare for her dream. To prepare for becoming a doctor._

_Then, one ordinary morning during her undergraduate time at the University of Michigan she woke up and suddenly everything was different._

_She remembered her baby. The love she had started to feel for her while she was still growing insider her. The plans she had made with the help of her family and Mr Giles. Her will to see everything through, to become a good mom and still study medicine. Somehow she had known it would work out. She also clearly remembered the afternoon tea with an old guy from the Watchers' Council and how after that everything had suddenly become hazy. _

_In the short time she had been trained by Mr Giles she had learned enough to know that something wasn't right with that scenario. How else could you explain her sudden disinterest in her own baby? The very baby she had already loved very much at the point when she had changed all her plans? So, that ordinary morning in April she did the first thing coming to her mind. She went through her old stuff and, after finding what she was looking for, called Mr Giles._

_He was just as shocked as she was and agreed to look into it._

_For the next couple of days Lisa was an emotional wreck as more and more memories came back to her and she didn't know how to handle them. Finally, after three agonising days of missed classes, Mr Giles called her back. And confirmed her worst fears. The Watchers' Council had actually messed with her mind and basically stolen her child! At that point, Mr Giles told her about them wanting for her to have an abortion. And all just because there was a good chance for her to become the next Slayer. And they didn't want to risk her being distracted by something as unimportant as a baby._

_Unfortunately, the fact that they had messed with her mind was all Mr Giles had been able to find out. But he promised to keep looking and contact her if he'd find anything else. _

_A few days after that phone call a letter arrived. Unbeknownst to her, Mr Giles had made a few pictures of her baby after it was brought into the nursery at the hospital. After hearing of the true reason for her to suggest an adoption, he had sent them to her. The letter also contained a short note in which he apologised for not having caught onto the Watcher's Council's doing at that time. Apart from his own phone number he had also included one of a psychologist in case Lisa wanted to talk to someone else. That person was aware of the creatures of the night, so Cuddy wouldn't have to hold anything back._

_In the end, after a couple more days of misery, she took his advice and called Dr Mary-Ann Karuchi. It turned out she was a former Potential as well and was indeed able to help Cuddy to some degree. In fact, they became good friends over the years and had stayed in, if sporadic, contact._

Her thoughts coming back to the present, Cuddy found herself staring at the well-worn picture of a newborn, dark haired baby dressed in a pink onesie.

Her daughter.

Gently stroking over the baby's cheek, an, judging by the signs of wornness, often repeated motion, Lisa Cuddy allowed a soft smile to play around her lips. Wiping away the single tear running down her own cheek, Cuddy put the picture in its sacred place and turned to her computer.

It was time to contact Mr Giles again. After not having called him for years, she wasn't sure his old phone number would still be working. Besides, in an attempt to forget everything, she had conveniently misplaced it. Yes, she still had it somewhere. She wouldn't be Lisa Cuddy if she hadn't. But in times of the internet a web-search might turn out to be much faster then her going through old boxes in her attic.

Inhaling deeply, Cuddy opened a web-search and typed 'Rupert Giles' and 'British Museum'. Moving the mouse over the search button, she closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she … didn't push it. Opening her eyes again, she looked at her rebellious index finger. Giving a nervous laugh at the badly shaking digit, she took another deep breath – and, through sheer willpower, pushed the button.

And came up with - _nothing_. She couldn't believe it! True, there were a lot of hits, but they were old. No new contact information. As in nothing. Frustrated, Cuddy screamed. Short but effective. Then she tried again, interchanging the additional search criteria with anything she could think of. To no avail.

In the end she settled on emailing the current curator of The British Museum and asked if he had any new contact information. Next on her list was to call Mary-Ann Karuchi, something she hadn't done for almost a year. However, knowing that in her current state of mind this might end in even more tears, she'd have to wait until she was at home.

And the earlier she finished the ever-growing pile of files on her desk, the earlier she could go home and do just that. Willing herself to shove her thoughts and feelings in their clearly labelled and colour coded boxes, she went back to work.

--

In another part of the hospital Buffy closed her mobile after having talked to Giles about what she had learned earlier. He had promised to look into it, or rather have several research teams look for both the demon family Brenda belonged to and, more importantly, for demons that were known to feast on ill children.

Buffy was pissed. Really, really pissed.

Not only did they have a possible demon activity in this hospital, but this demon fed on children, something she was rather familiar with. When she had been but a little girl, her best friend and cousin Celia had to go to hospital – and never came back. Before she died, though, she told Buffy about the scary looking monster coming into her room at night, telling her how he was going to kill her.

As it had turned out, the monster didn't wait until the following night to haunt her cousin again but came while Buffy was still there. She had seen the terror appearing in Celia's eyes, had heard her pleading for Buffy to help her but Buffy couldn't do anything. She couldn't _see_ whoever was hurting her cousin! Buffy had desperately called for help as Celia had been screaming in agony but they never came. All Buffy could do was watch in horror as her cousin had lost the fight against the monster. And, when the doctors and nurses finally had come, it had been too late. Celia had been dead.

Buffy had told them about the monster, but they wouldn't believe her. Nobody had. Yet Buffy knew Celia hadn't been lying to her, she had _felt_ that something was really off. It had made her skin crawl and goose bumps had been running up and down her entire body.

And now, someone else – or maybe even the same, with demons you never knew – was doing it again. Killing ill children and the doctors couldn't do anything about it.

But, just like in Sunnydale, Buffy wasn't about to stand aside helplessly and watch as she had been forced with her cousin.

Once again, Buffy was going to fight back – and win.

The Slayer was coming out to play.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who took the time to review. Each one of them is used to feed Muse. To make her strong enough to tackle the next chapter ;)._


	11. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: _ I don't own House or BTVS. No infringement is intended. Sadly, no profit will be made from this either.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Over the next week Buffy found excuses over excuses to visit the children's ward. Including the current weekend on which she decided to work rather then wait, twiddling her thumbs. At night, she just sneaked in. She had plenty of experience in that department after all. She also talked to several of the children but they hadn't seen anything. Or knew anything, for that matter. Seemed like whatever was causing these deaths was more cautious than Der Kindstod.

She also made a habit of entering the hospital through the open clinic, passing by Brenda, but all the nurse did was shake her head at her. She hadn't sensed another spike in fear either.

Of course, on the one side it was good as it meant no more demon deaths. On the other side, though, did the waiting grate on Buffy's nerves. Which wasn't all that unusual. Just as the amount of sleep she seemed to need these days was rather unusual. At least Dr Marmine was giving her a bit of space at the moment.

Sighing, she walked through the quiet children's ward for a last time. Still nothing. Shrugging her shoulders, she went to the stairs and left the hospital just as quietly and unseen as she had entered it over an hour earlier.

With the moon shining brightly and stars blinking all over the night sky – to her slayer eyes anyway as they weren't impaired by the city lights around her – Buffy decided to enjoy the warm night and take the long way home. Maybe there was some activity on the nearby cemetery. After waiting for a fight night after night and not finding any demon activity in the hospital she was really itching for a good ol' fight by now. Besides, on a night being as nice as it was, there were bound to be, to quote Spike, more happy meals on legs about. Something even the stupidest of vampires was aware of. Well, most of them anyway.

Sure enough, even before entering the cemetery of her choice, she was attacked. Unfortunately the vampire was smelling bad enough to make her nauseous – another new thing – so she didn't play as long as she would have liked to but went on killing it with a swiftness Giles would be very proud off.

Brushing the few remaining bits of vampire dust off her clothes, she closed her eyes and listened to her surroundings. It didn't take long before she could make out several more voices in the distance. As in coming from the same direction the middle of the cemetery was located. Hopefully those guys had a better body hygiene than the very dead vampire in front of her. Or whatever was left of him. After that little nothing more than an appetiser fight, she was _really_ needing a good main meal, well fight, now.

Coming closer, she could distinguish six different voices. Five male and one female who seemed to be in the middle of an argument. While unsuccessfully trying to be quiet. Which made for quite an entertainment value. Not so much for secrecy, though.

Buffy was doing a wide arch around them until the wind was coming from their direction, thus making the voices sound much clearer, despite the still large-ish distance between them. Her whole body twitching in anticipation, Buffy slowly but surely closed in on them. And stopped in confusion.

She still didn't get any vibes of the weird kind. And she had heard that particular voice before. Furrowing her brow while trying to figure out just where that thought had come from, another voice, just as familiar, joined into the conversation. Staying in the shadows, she walked closer until she finally got a good look at the group in front of her.

Groaning, just in time remembering to keep the groan in her head, Buffy let herself sink onto the ground, leaning against an old headstone.

House's fellows. Or rather his possible new fellows. The remaining ones anyway. Go figure. He probably only hired them to make her life miserable. Bastard.

Letting her head fall against the headstone with a quiet resigned thud, Buffy closed her eyes. So much for getting a good fight in tonight. Now she'd have to stick around and make sure they'd be safe. Once they were finally done – which she hoped would be soon – it'd be too late to look for the fight she'd been itching for. If she wanted to get a few hours of sleep in anyway.

Only House.

A little while ago he'd stuck a knife of all things into a power socket. Just because a patient, a dead one at that, had claimed the 97 seconds he'd been dead after an accident had been the best in his life.

Now his fellows were digging up a body. On a Sunday of all days. Didn't they have a life? Like- okay, scratch that.

But what came next?

Where they trying to _revive_ said body? Maybe so House could ask him about his death experience so far?

Urgh, she so didn't want to go there. Now she'd probably have nightmares again. Nevertheless, despite not really believing they would, she'd have to keep a close eye on them to be really sure. With House, as she'd learned in the few weeks since meeting him, with House you could never be careful enough.

It took them another hour, through which the last remaining fellow turned up with coffee, until they were finally done.

Following them to their cars, making sure they got there safely, Buffy let out a long suffering sigh once the fellows were gone. So much for her plans. Turning, and pouting just a little bit, she headed into the opposite direction. Home.

Frustrated by not being able to scratch the I-really-need-to-fight itch she opened her apartment door – and found her answering machine blinking frantically at her.

Finally.

--

Monday morning found Cuddy looking into her suspiciously empty email inbox. Or at least empty of the reply she'd been hoping for. It had been more or less a week and she was still no step closer to finding Mr Giles. Maybe loosing contact several years ago hadn't been such a bright idea after all. Worse, the only reply she got from her friend Mary-Ann Karuchi – after being unable to reach her by phone – was an out of office message. She was only coming back tomorrow, so hopefully, after a long, long week, Cuddy would finally get the answer she needed.

Glaring at her inbox for another minute, Cuddy's thoughts were interrupted by the door to her office opening. Without a knock.

"What!" she barked without looking up.

"Oh my. Someone missed her morning quickie," House replied as if talking to a small child, shaking his head disapprovingly.

Glaring at him with the same viciousness her inbox had experienced only seconds before, Cuddy all but shouted, "House!"

"What?" he asked innocently, his eyes opening wide in mock-shock at her accusation laid voice. "Did you have some chocolate or not?"

Cuddy just looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

Shaking his finger at her, he grinned mischievously, tilting his head. "You and your dirty mind."

Rolling her eyes at him, she nevertheless smiled back. If nothing else, he had managed to chase her bad mood away. Hopefully it wasn't back by the time he left again.

Or, considering who he was, even before that.

--

Before Buffy left for home that day, she knew everything she needed to beat the demon. At least Giles was pretty sure it was a Sha-whatever thingy, living off the invisible energy that comes with healing children. Or something like that. She hadn't really listened to that part of the explanation. All she needed to know was that it only went for kids that had been seriously ill but were improving. Only during that phase were they tasty to the Shardiduda-or-such demon.

Being a baddie, it also took its time in killing his prey. Buffy thought Giles, or was it Dawn, mentioned something about more or less marinating the child in its own fear, improving the taste or something disgusting like that. Which was probably the reason Brenda could feel the slow build-up of fear – and its lingering remains once the child was dead. It was one of the more horrible things Buffy had come across so far.

But she was going to stop it. Once and for all.

To kill the demon, she'd have to cut it's head off – but only after severing all four tentacles coming out from the back of it's neck. The same four tentacles it uses to pin its prey down. Otherwise the stupid head would just grow again. Apparently this was a demon whose brain really was living further south. Well, not that far south, but in the neck thingy. And the tentacles. Talk about a big brain. Urgh. She was so going to have brain splashed all over her!

At least, according to Giles anyway, she should be able to see it. Other than Der Kindstod only the victim, once pinned down, was able to see the demon. Unless you are a Slayer. Or a demon. Or a Wicca. Or a … well, anyone tinted with a certain amount of the supernatural, really.

What worried her the most, though, was its apparent love for really, really brightly coloured clothes. So bright, in fact, that Dawn suggested to maybe wear sunglasses. Then again, hearing her sister's muffled giggles, she wasn't sure how serious she was about that particular fact. At least it meant Dawn wasn't too worried that Buffy wouldn't be able to handle the Sha-duda thingy. Which, in itself, was strangely comforting.

Once home, Buffy quickly changed into more slayage suitable clothing, getting the Scythe and various other bladed weapons out of their hiding place. Because, just before she had left the hospital, Brenda had called her, saying that the fear was slowly, but steadily, rising.

As soon as the dark would help to disguise her, and the hospital was empty enough for her to sneak in unseen, Buffy was on her way. True, she would have preferred to start earlier, as the demon obviously was already there, but there were simply too many people around. She wouldn't be able to fight without bringing even more people into danger. Despite taking a Willow-made amulet that would muffle any noise coming from the room Buffy was in.

Taking another deep breath, Buffy closed the apartment door behind her.

And hoped to finish before midnight. Because then it would be Tuesday. Which would be so not of the good.

--

A glass of wine next to her, Cuddy was curled up on her couch, going through some acquisition forms she had brought home from work. They were always easier to handle if the right amount of alcohol was involved. Especially those signed by a certain person named after a building. Smiling at that thought, Cuddy declined yet another request for a personal massage chair for his office.

She was about to take another sip of her wine when the phone rang. Sighing, she put her current file down and answered the phone. Only to have the file slide down to the floor when her former psychotherapist turned friend Mary-Ann Karuchi answered.

As it turned out, she had just come back from her holiday and, unable to stop herself, had quickly checked her office mail from home. Upon seeing Lisa's request for a quick reply regarding an urgent message, she had dug out her old phone book and called. They might only talk a few times a year now, but that didn't mean she wouldn't take an urgent from Lisa seriously. Especially as they were still close despite their busy schedules.

"So you don't have a current contact number for Rupert Giles?" Cuddy asked, disappointment evident in her voice. She had quickly told Mary-Ann about the happenings in the hospital and the grain of doubt unknowingly sown by her best, yet most annoying, doctor.

Mary-Ann agreed it sounded at least a bit fishy. And asking the experts wouldn't hurt. "Sorry. I tried the last number I had already. The line is disconnected. As are two other numbers I have. I still have an email address that should get the answer you need, but it might take a while."

Sighing, Cuddy nodded, even though she knew Mary-Ann wouldn't see her. "Damn."

"Sorry."

Taking a deep breath, Cuddy asked, "Could you sent an urgent email to that address please? Or give it to me?"

"I've sent it as soon as you told me what was going on," Mary-Ann replied, a smile evident in her voice.

"Thanks." Closing her eyes in relief, Cuddy took another sip of her wine to hopefully calm her slightly shaking hands.

"You're welcome. Now, tell me, how are you coping with all of this?" Mary-Ann asked concerned. She hadn't know Lisa Cuddy for years for nothing. Therefore she had a pretty good idea how much it would affect her.

Sighing deeply, Cuddy went on to quietly tell her friend about the breakdown in her office, that had surprised even herself.

--

It was official.

Buffy really should have brought the sunglasses. She already had to put her fashion sense into a dark, dark corner of her mind in order to save it from dying a horrible and very painful death.

She was currently looking into the room of a little boy. He was pinned to his bed by what could only be described as with eye-hurting bright, very, very long, neon-green socks covered tentacles. At least, by the looks of it, the boy seemed to be asleep and as of yet unaware of what was happening to him. Or the fashion atrocity doing the deed.

According to Giles, there was a possibility that the first step of 'marinating' was done by subconscious fear. Fear that was fuelled through nightmares induced by the demon. But, it being the first step also meant she should have more than enough time to save the boy.

Sighing in relief, Buffy first made sure she was still alone in the corridor before taking another look at the demon.

Talk about bad taste. The neon-green tentacles were attached to a humanoid enough looking body, covered in what looked like a bright yellow and pink striped, the whole-body covering and unfortunately very tight, spandex suit.

Oy, she really, _really_ should have brought the sunglasses. At least then the colours wouldn't be so bright.

Shaking her head for a final time – no matter what, that image would haunt her for years to come – she opened the door and entered the boys room, her favourite Valley Girl personality showing bright and clearly.

Catching his eyes, Buffy waved happily at him. "Hi. My name is Buffy. What's yours?"


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Receiving no answer from the perplexed demon, Buffy put on her best pout. "Now that is downright rude. Ignoring me like that and all."

The demon just shook his head to, Buffy guessed, clear his mind. If it possessed something like that in the first place.

"Interesting, uhm, tentacle thingies you've got there," Buffy tried again. "Still, a cosmetic correction might be of the good." Casually walking over to the bed, she pretended to study the tentacles more closely, giving the occasional nod. However, Buffy was taking in the position of them, the best way of severing them from the demons neck and how to keep the boy as safe as possible at the same time.

The demon, confusion still clearly written all over its face, finally found his voice again. "You shouldn't see me, human filth."

"Trust me, I'd _love_ you to be of the unseeable kind," Buffy snorted, her hands waving in the demon's general direction. "Spandex and all."

Raising to his full height, that happened to be a good two foot taller than Buffy, he – at least Buffy was pretty sure it was the male of the species – released the boy and let his tentacles hover just in front of Buffy.

Grunting, the demon grinned evilly. "Prepare to die."

Rolling her eyes, Buffy rested her hands on her hips and looked at the spandex-clad demon in annoyance. "You know, I'm so sick of promises of the empty variety. You lot always tell me that and what happens? I'm the one left with the messy clean up while you enjoy your deadness."

Chuckling, or rather that's what Buffy figured he was doing, the demon moved ever closer. Well, at least his tentacles did. "And who are you, little, annoying human child?"

"Hey! I. Am. Not. A. Child!" Buffy replied more than annoyed. Grumbling more to herself than anyone else, she added, "Just 'cause I'm a teeny, tiny bit shorter than the average person doesn't mean I'm still a child."

Laughing that nerve-grading laugh again, the demon just shrugged. "Doesn't matter once you're dead, does it?"

Tapping her chin as if in deep thought, Buffy slowly shook her head. "Don't know. I seem to come back from death no matter what."

"Who are you?" The demon asked again. This time, a deep frown was appearing on its forehead.

"Who? Little 'ol me?" Buffy asked innocently, pointing at herself. "Nothing special, you know. Just your standard prosecutor, judge and executioner in one type of person."

At the puzzled look on the demon's face, Buffy rolled her eyes again. It was really only half as much fun if she had to explain almost everything she said! Casually taking the Scythe from her back, she added, "Or, if you're more into name appendages – I mean, you obviously like appendages, tentacles and all – I'm The Slayer. As in the original Chosen One."

Using the shock that seemed her little revelation to have caused in the demon, she sidestepped him, swung the Scythe and severed the demon's two left tentacles right at their base.

Now that was easy.

Turning to face her again, the demon roared in anger. Or pain. Well, probably both. Suddenly, mid-howl, he lunged forward, hurling both of them into the far wall.

Ouch.

It had been too easy, of course.

Quickly entangling herself from the demon, Buffy swung the Scythe again, but this time missed the attached end of the tentacle due to his movement, only cutting off half of it. The demon roared once more, then grinned as the tentacle re-grew itself.

Great.

Then the demon lashed out with its remaining two tentacles and Buffy didn't have any more time to think.

Several bruises, cuts and almost – hopefully – broken bones later, Buffy leaned against the wall, slowly letting herself sink down onto the floor. Eyeing the damage to the room – all furniture but the bed were dented in some way or other – Buffy sighed. And wondered what explanation the hospital might come up with for the all but totalled room. Thankfully Willow had come up with a little something that would protect anything within close proximity from fast moving objects. Hence the still intact bed. Plus occupant.

Buffy shook her head at the room again – with cut-off pieces of dead Spandex Demon everywhere – before speaking up quietly. "Fancy another room?"

Eyes open impossible wide, the small boy huddled under the bed finally started to slowly nod his head.

"Good! Good." Looking at the demon goo not only all over the room but also over herself, Buffy's eyes eventually settled on the little boy. "Cause this room clearly needs some redecorating and I'm so wearing the wrong clothes for that."

The boy tilted his head and smiled weakly at Buffy. Despite everything he had just witnessed, he slowly reached his hand into Buffy's direction. Carefully touching her hand, he quickly moved his hand back as soon as it made contact. "You're real," he whispered in awe. He knew it! His big sister had been lying. Superheroes were real and not just dumb stories!

"Yep. I'm real 'ol me." Buffy stretched out her legs in front of her, careful as if not to startle the boy. "Think you can tell me your name?"

Nodding, the boy carefully skirted a little closer. "Billy."

"So, Billy, want me to find a room for you, then come back to get you?"

Eyes opening in pure terror, Billy vigorously shook his head. The monster was still here! In pieces, but still here! What if it could put itself together again?

"Or do you wanna come looking with me?"

Quickly coming out from under the bed Billy all but attached himself to Buffy. Gently stroking his back, Buffy said, "Guess that's a big yes to the second option, huh?"

Seeing Billy nod, Buffy looked him over once again. Somehow through all the chaos his IV-line had managed to survive and was still where it was supposed to be. Other than that, Billy wasn't connected to anything and he didn't seem to be in much pain either. Besides, going by the information Giles had given her, the demon thingy was after kids already well on their way to recovery, not the still critical injured ones.

Telling the boy to stay where he was, she quickly went through the room to collect all his personal belongings, medical record and such things. Somehow all of them had managed to stay goo-free. Mostly. Which, considering there were either put away in drawers and wardrobes or on the protected bed, wasn't all that surprising. Once everything was in the pillow case that served as a make-shift bag, Buffy crouched down in front of Billy again.

"How 'bout a little game?" Buffy asked with twinkling eyes. Receiving an interested look, she added, "Think we can sneak out of here and get into another room without anyone noticing?"

"Uh huh." Grabbing Buffy's hand trustfully, Billy got onto his still shaky legs.

It had been close. Several times. But in the end they made it. There was an empty room on the opposite side of the corridor and after putting Billy to bed, Buffy also arranged his things exactly the way they had been in the other room. Glancing at her watch she realised that less than an hour had passed since she had entered Billy's former room. It felt like at least twelve.

Sighing, she slumped onto the chair next to Billy's new bed. "Feeling better?"

Billy nodded. And yawned widely.

Seeing his eyes drop for the umpteenth time, Buffy smiled. "Sleepy?"

Eyes wide open again, Billy vigorously shook his head. And grabbed Buffy's hand again.

Climbing onto the bed next to him, she hugged him close. "Shh. The baddie's all gone now. He won't be coming back."

"Promise?" Billy whispered, snuggling even closer. She was warm. And soft. And Superwoman. He wasn't going to let her go soon. Or ever.

"Yep." Buffy nodded while drawing soothing circles on his arm. Kissing the top of his head, she added, "Now go back to sleep. I'll stick around for a while, okay?"

Nodding, Billy etched another tenth of an inch closer before finally succumbing to much needed sleep.

--

Killing her alarm clock, again, Buffy groaned at the morning sun cheerfully shining into her room. She felt like she only went to bed an hour ago.

When it had clearly been three. And a half.

Closing her eyes once more, she blindly made her way into the bathroom for a long and hot shower. And to have another look a the damage the demon did last night.

Black and swollen eye down to a make-up coverable bruise? Check.

Small cut at hairline closed and hair-do coverable? Check.

Badly split lip healed or make-up coverable? Fail.

Damn.

Badly split lip healed enough for plausible, non-violent explanation? Fai-. Screw that. Check. She'd think of something. Anything.

Bruised rips healed to a non work-impairing level? Right – check. Left – check. If barely.

Open knuckles healed up to a believable I'm a little clumsy level? Check.

Any other damage clothes coverable? Check.

Slayed demon's goo gone from hair and any other body parts in case of it having escaped last nights shower? Err, showers? Check. Check. Check.

Called Giles and Dawn to assure them of her non-deadness? Ops. She'd blame it on a caffeine deficiency.

Any brilliant excuses for not going to work today available? Fail.

Not so brilliant ones? Fail.

At least workable ones? Fail. Fail. Fail.

Bah.

Still grumbling to herself, Buffy ignored the once again frantically blinking light of her answering machine and speed-dialled her sister instead. She didn't need them chewing her out twice, after all.

--

When Cuddy entered the hospital on Tuesday morning, she just hoped there wasn't another death waiting for her. It didn't help that Mary-Ann couldn't give her the answers she needed last night either. At least she was one step closer to finding her old Watcher again.

She had barely turned the corner towards her office, when she stopped short. Even her heart took an awful long time until it decided that beating wasn't only still fashionable but also vital for her survival.

There, in front of her office, nervously wringing her hands, stood the paediatrician fellow, Dr Clarence.

Not good. At all.

Cuddy was seriously considering, even if just for a second, to simply turn around and bury herself at home. Then Dr Clarence turned. And for the first time in the last few minutes she felt something like a little bit of hope.

Because, although Dr Clarence looked confused, she didn't look like there had been another tragedy on the children's ward.

Taking a shaky breath, Cuddy stepped forward and, after opening her office door, motioned the paediatrician in. "What happened?"

Shaking her head in disbelieve, Dr Clarence took a seat in front of Cuddy's desk. "Good question." Seeing her boss frown, she quickly added reassuringly. "The children are all fine. Well, considering they're in hospital in the first place."

Nodding, Cuddy had guessed that already after all, she motioned for the young doctor to continue.

"William, or Billy, Thomson. The nurse almost had a heart-attack when she went to check on him early this morning. His room, 203, looked like a battlefield. Almost every single piece of furniture was in pieces or had at least several dents in it. Everything but the bed. Even worse, any sign of Billy ever being in this room had vanished."

"What?!" Jumping up, Cuddy started to pace her office. "How could that happen? What about Billy? Why haven't I been called the second this was discovered?"

"Billy is fine!" Dr Clarence all but shouted to stop Cuddy's tirade. At Cuddy's astonished look, she blushed brightly. "I'm sorry, really sorry. I'm telling this all the wrong way around."

After taking a couple of deep breath, Cuddy sat down again. The boy was fine. Dr Clarence had said so before. Having gathered her thoughts again, she nodded in acceptance of the apology and motion for the other doctor to continue.

"She paged me and we quickly gathered all nurses available and checked every single room. And got lucky in the last. 230, of course. Billy was sleeping peacefully, non the worse for wear, and the room looked like he'd never been anywhere else. Including his name on the outside of the room. When I asked him if anything happened last night, he first looked at me blankly and then shook his head."

"But how?" Cuddy asked astonished. What exactly had happened?

"I honestly don't know. I gave him a thorough check-up. Everything was like we'd expect it to be," Dr Clarence said while shrugging her shoulders. She was just as clueless as the Dean of Medicine.

Nodding, Cuddy asked some more questions before she went with Dr Clarence to see for herself. Only to find that everything was like she had been told earlier.

--

House was bored.

True, they had a patient and having his prospective fellows digging up a grave had been fun, but they still weren't any closer to diagnosing the woman.

All he had to do at the moment was waiting for some more test results. And think of ways to thoroughly annoy Mormon Guy. Or Big Love.

Playing with his think ball a bit more, House looked at his watch again. Maybe he should surprise his unsuspecting fellows by being less than half an hour late? Shrugging his shoulder, he figured that this was a tiny bit less boring than sitting in his office. Especially with only his unanswered mail and an unhelpful TV denying him his General Hospital fix for another couple of hours as company. Evil broadcasters!

Smirking, his potential fellows surely weren't expecting him that close to the agreed time. Quietly walking into the room, using the back entrance, he had a quick look around. And found his very first victim. After making everyone jump with his cane being thrown onto the desk, he asked in a disappointed voice, "Thirteen, sleeping on the job?" Enjoying the guilty expression on her face, and, to be honest the smug one on Cut-throat Bitch's too, he continued, "Long night? New lover?"

Thirteen, she really liked that name, shook her head, guiltiness clearly replaced by defiance. "Just decided to spent the waiting time with something useful."

Pulling his patented I'm shocked face, House wondered, "New _non-dangling_ lover?" Oh yeah, this was way more fun than sitting in his office. Mischief entering his eyes, he shook his head, smirking. "_Both_? You nasty, nasty woman, you."

Thirteen just smiled secretly, denying wouldn't help anyway, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Good for you." Nodding in approval, that would cause more shocks than any other reaction after all, House turned to the remaining fellows-

-and was rudely interrupted when the door to the lecture theatre opened, revealing a certain blonde physiotherapist, strolling in casually.

Sweet.

--

_A/N: Thanks for reviewing. A special thanks to Mistress of the Knight, I'm still grinning like an idiot after reading that one . And Muse hasn't even stopped running around like crazy!_


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Feeling House's attention on her, Buffy turned hers to his prospective fellows sitting in front of him. She hadn't really met them before – other then watching their backs in the cemetery – while she knew House and what to expect from him. Besides, a little ignore-age wouldn't hurt him.

She had caught the end of the conversation and, judging by the smug look on the dark haired fellow, Buffy knew she'd been the object of said observation. At the moment she seemed pretty relaxed and able to handle House. To some degree anyway.

The black guy in front of the lecture theatre looked a bit uncomfortable while Buffy could almost see the Indian guy and the guy next to him trying to picture their fellow's sex life. Mentally rolling her eyes – men – she marked the three guys off as rather non-special for now. Then again, the Indian guy had a kind of playful, or rather adventurous, air about him. Remembering the cemetery, how he actually seemed to have enjoyed himself a bit too much, she decided to better mark him as having to be watched when it came to House's games.

The old fellow sitting on the side was a different matter. If anything he seemed to be amused by the previous happenings and Buffy could almost see him rolling his eyes. Not only at House, but at the reaction from his much younger colleagues too. Buffy didn't know why, but somehow he remembered her of a more polished, tamer version of House. More polished as in actually having certain, by the general population accepted and expected, people skills. Unlike House.

That only left the blonde woman. One look and Buffy knew she'd go long ways to ensure her place in the fellow program with House. She was definitely one to watch as she was probably most likely to do what House asked – especially when it came to the illegal-ish kind of thing. Something, she'd heard, House was rather fond of. She'd probably been the Cordelia of her high-school. Only that the real Cordelia had changed in time. Buffy wasn't so sure about this one, or that she'd actually be able to handle the things that Cordelia had.

It only took Buffy the short walk down the few steps to the front of the room to indulge in her curiosity and get a feel for House's prospective fellows. But as soon as she reached her destination, she turned her attention back to House. He was the most dangerous – and her reason to be here – after all.

Smirking at the quick, calculating glances Buffy gave each of his prospective fellows, House waited until she joined him at the front. "Ah, Miss Summers. What can my humble self help you with today?"

More than one of his possible fellows raised their eyebrows at the rather pleasant tone House asked that question in. In fact, no-one but Henry Dobson had heard this tone before.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm all yours. Show me where and I'll kis- massage all the pain away!" Buffy replied cheerily, putting on her infamous blonde act. If House wanted to play then that was fine with her. Besides, hearing most of the fellows gasp at her intentional near-slip, she figured it would be fun.

Gasping in mock-shock, House put his hands in front of his mouth. "In front of the k-i-d-s?"

Buffy gave them another once over – she almost had burst out laughing when House had actually spelled kids – and finally just shrugged her shoulders. Why not? _She_ wasn't the one about to loose her pants. "I don't mind an audience. They might even learn a thing or two." Smiling into the room, making sure to give the two guys with the way too active fantasy a dazzling smile, Buffy continued. "Table looks stable enough. Just drop your pants and I'll start the show."

More gasps echoes throughout the room.

And House was mentally rubbing his hands.

"Taub, Kutner, get your mind out of the gutter. This is a hospital, not a peep-show," House grumbled, shaking his head in fake disappointment. Eyeing his favourite Mormon candidate, he continued unblinking, "Big Love, if you can't handle the peep-show, than you chose the wrong profession."

Oh, he was good, Buffy thought, wondering what he'd come up with next.

"Cut-throat Bitch, stop ogling and get yourself a lover or two like Thirteen did." Ignoring Amber's offended protests, House waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the other female fellow. "Thirteen, care to join in?"

Rolling her eyes, Thirteen, when House didn't seem to continue, motioned towards the last member of their group. "What about him?"

"Henry? Isn't that obvious?" House asked blatantly.

"He's too old?" Kutner suggested eagerly.

"Hey!" Two loud and clearly offended outcries sounded through the room, causing more than one or two surprised looks.

Chuckling, House watched Buffy curiously. "Henry's protest I can understand. Yours? Now that's really interesting. Want to share with the class?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Buffy gave him her most innocent look. "Well," motioning towards Kutner, Buffy said, "his comment was rude. When Henry is obviously experienced enough to have both seen and done almost everything there is to do in a hospital, right?" Besides, she could hardly tell him that in her world, sixty-ish, or whatever his age was, is hardly old.

Her partner in crime, well, outcry, nodded approvingly. "I agree."

"So-o, you gonna loose your pants or not?" Buffy asked, quickly changing the topic back to the original one. She was so not talking about her, not so recent, past tendency of older boyfriends.

Holding both his hands over his heart, House replied in a gravely tone, "I would. Really. But I can't leave the kiddies to their own devices. They might actually go around and try to cure somebody."

"I thought they were going to watch?" Buffy asked innocently. "You said yourself, they might learn something and this is a teaching hospital, right?"

"It is, you know," Kutner was quick to agree, elbowing Taub in excitement.

"Not _that_ kind of teaching!" Amber intervened. This meeting turned out to be rather odd – or odder than usual – and for whatever reason she felt threatened by the short woman in front. It was time to mark her territory.

Waggling his finger at Amber, House said, "Actually, it is."

Looking smugly around the room, he registered all the shocked and confused looks on his prospective fellows. There were so predictable. His eyes finally coming to rest on Henry, he raised his eyebrows questioningly. "No shock, indignation, irritation, whatever you want to call it?"

Casually shaking his head, Henry replied, "Miss Summers is a physiotherapist with Dr Marmine's APTA program. I believe you agreed to treatment of some kind by him almost a couple of weeks or so back."

House nodded in approval. "You're good."

"I know." Henry replied smugly. He might not have an actual medical degree, but he's been around for so long, he probably had seen most things. And knew how valuable tapping into a hospitals grapevine could be. Judging by the muffin incident in the cafeteria and now having met Miss Summers in person, he could understand why she went along with House. However, having met Miss Summers now, he also wondered how anyone her age could have that much life experience to do exactly that.

"And as you never seemed to be around or have time when Dr Marmine came looking for you, appointment or not, he decided to chuck his least liked fellow onto you," Buffy explained casually as if she hadn't just openly suggested her supervisor mistreated her on purpose, dropping the blonde act. "In fact, he insisted on the when and where."

"Passed him on the way down," House said nonchalantly. "Even greeted him."

"Now that was nice of you. Must have been just before he paged me," Buffy replied sarcastically. Looking straight at House, she added in her yet unused no-nonsense tone. "So, when – and I mean today or tomorrow – and where?"

"How about, oh, later?" House asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He even looked towards the ceiling to underline his thought process.

Buffy just shrugged her shoulders. "Works for me." She'd find him, Brenda told her some interesting facts about him – and possible accomplices – after all.

"Right, now that that's sorted we come to the really interesting questions," House started in his lecture tone. Looking around the room, demanding attention from all his fellows, he continued, "How'd you get that, admittedly professionally covered, shiner and split lip from?"

Shit. She'd forgotten about them in the heat of the moment as they didn't really bother her. And just standing around didn't aggravate her still sore ribs either, so she'd gotten no reminder from that end either. Going with innocence, and blonde once more, she replied in a questioning tone, "Herpes?"

"What, did the Herpes virus crawl out of your lip, strolled up your cheek only to use your eye as punching ball?" House asked sarcastically, walking his fingers along the table Buffy was sitting on.

Cut-throat Bitch, happy to chime in, added, "Besides, that really is a cut. Not Herpes."

"Unless the virus didn't crawl but cut it's way out of your lip." Kutner added helpfully. "What?" He asked at the weird looks he got in answer, "I didn't start the whole virus crawling thing. Just going with the flow."

"It's nothing," Buffy replied, shrugging her shoulders impassively. "Just a little clumsiness."

Henry couldn't help himself but snort at that. That woman all but screamed confidence and, as tacky as it may sound, body control. She might be lots of things, but clumsy surely wasn't one of it. However, as much as she looked like being in a fight, she sure as hell wasn't the victim as some of his co-workers might think.

"Hm," adapting his think-pose again, House said, "Where have I heard that one before?"

Having enough of it and clearly not wanting to explain herself to House and his fellows, Buffy shrugged her shoulders once again, "Whatever. As you're not dropping your jeans I might just as well leave. I'm already behind schedule due to Marmine's little impromptu order." Jumping from the table she'd been sitting on, she gave House a final glance. "I'll catch you later. And that's a promise."

Turning toward the door leading out the front of the small lecture theatre, she casually walked towards it, well aware of the stares trying to penetrate her back.

However, House being House couldn't help himself but have the last word - only to regret it the moment he had said it. Which in itself said a lot.

"Dead boyfriend replaced by a more actively hitting version already?"

* * *

_A/N: Just to clarify a question that has come up a few times now. This is NOT going to be Buffy/House. Friendship, most certainly. Anything more, not going to happen. Although Cuddy/House is a possibility. Anything else is up to Muse. _

_Thanks again for all the reviews! This took a bit longer because Muse decided to throw a tantrum at having to edit this chapter. Thought writing it was enough. Sigh. Those creative types… Fed her lots of chocolate and even sharpened any red pen I could find and finally convinced her to get back to work. Good news though is that the next chapter is more or less written already. Just needs to get edited and I put superglue onto all red pens, so Muse doesn't have a choice but work on it the next couple of days._


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The instant House's comment reached her, every single cell in her body stopped dead for a second. Buffy stood motionless, back still turned to the room, yet everyone could feel the temperature literally drop by several degrees.

When Buffy turned around her face set in stone, all of the fellows instinctively moved their chairs further into the room.

Away from her.

Away from the truly chill-inspiring look in her eyes.

Away from the coldness streaming from them and away from the raw power spiralling off of her, chilling all of them to the bone.

House, on the other hand, was both fascinated and, yes, maybe a _little_ scared, by the woman walking, no, stalking predator-like, towards him. She was the cold-blooded killer, he the prey that had been caught in the headlight. Literally. Even if he'd wanted to, which in all earnest he started to do, he was unable to move or even just look away from her.

With every step Buffy came closer it felt like the temperature around him dropped even more. Somewhere, in the part of his mind that was overlooking the unfolding scene with a professional detachment, he all but expected visible puffs of air coming out of his mouth any moment now.

Buffy, herself, was hurting. Oh so much hurting inside. Just as she had the day Mark died. And the days and weeks after.

Coming to Princeton-Plainsboro had been really good for her, something she only truly realised now. Especially the interaction with the man in front of her had helped her more than any conventional therapy could have. Even the squabbles with her supervisor had been good for regaining her inner strength.

Not to mention the knowledge of her biological mother being present, or the glimpses she got of her so far. Buffy might not have been ready to confront her directly yet, but she had been on a good way. Building up the courage to reveal her identity to her mother.

Now, just _one_ stupid careless sentence later, she found herself at the beginning again. Even now, with the Slayer haven taken complete control of her body, she could feel the depression creeping back into all the places she'd managed to chase it out of during the last couple of months. Once more, the Slayer- and Buffy-parts of her very being were almost completely detached from each other.

And in some twisted way, it was even quite interesting for Buffy to watch herself as the Slayer.

Watch herself intimidating a whole room, causing real fear just by facing them.

See them subconsciously move away from her.

Smell their fear.

Giggling, a sound that bordered precariously close to Drusilla's insane giggles, her detached self wondered if Brenda could smell it. Taste it. Get _high_ on it? That thought caused another giggle to hollowly echo in her head.

On the outside, however, Buffy's eyes remained hard and cold. Icy, even. Her whole body was tight as a string and all but screamed power. Raw eternal power.

Stopping in front of House, yep, even the infamous House gave off the age-old scent of fear, the Slayer started to speak quietly. "Never _ever_ mentioned my _fiancée_ again."

Her voice might have been quiet, but the tone in which those few and simple words were spoken made them echo unnaturally loud throughout the room. Chilling everyone to their core once more.

Keeping her eyes locked with House's for another few seconds, the Slayer allowed him a tiny glimpse into what she _really_ was capable of doing. Gave him a teeny tiny glimpse of her true power.

When, to the further shock of the fellows, House visibly gulped, the Slayer released him from her stare and, ignoring everyone else, walked out of the room, conveniently forgetting to take the coldness with her.

Mentally and physically shaken himself, House was still the first to come out of his Buffy-induced stupor. Looking up the stairs, towards the other entrance of the room, he found his eyes locking onto another, just as stunned, pair. Ignoring his prospective fellows completely, he grabbed his cane and walked to Cuddy, leaving the room with her.

However, just as he was stepping out, he stopped as if remembering something important. "Go…" House looked at his still dazed fellows and pondered his options for a couple of second. "Go and find out everything you can about Tesla's robbery."

Shaking his head as if to clear the mists, Henry looked at House as if he'd just grown another head. "Tesla as in the 'Tesla was robbed' comment on the blackboard from a few weeks back?"

Nodding, House smiled slightly for the first time since Buffy had left the room. "You just earned the right to keep working on our patient."

"House!" Cuddy said annoyed, slapping his arm disapprovingly.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to his fellows once more. "Right, the mean Dean decided you're all going back to working on our patient. Which means you've got to work on Tesla in your free time."

Ignoring their cries of protest, House firmly shut the door behind him and followed Cuddy to her office.

--

Cuddy had been looking for House to ask about his current patient. Of course, as luck would have it, she reached the room just as House made his last comment. She watched in fascination as time seemed to stop for a couple of seconds.

Felt the cold creeping into the room, trying to reach out to her as well. Watched the cold quickly being followed by an unexplainable fear as Buffy had turned and taken in the room in just one quick and yet disturbing glance.

Somehow, it was strangely familiar. As if she'd seen something similar before. Possibly even _experienced_ it before. Yet, no matter how hard Cuddy tried, she couldn't place it. It was like the memory was sitting just out of her reach, mocking her as it kept on slipping through her grasp.

Instead, she stood and watched the events unfold with a creepy fascination. Buffy's presence seemed to grow with every step she took towards House. There and then, Cuddy wouldn't have been surprised if Buffy would have stabbed House right in the heart. However, with the tone her words were spoken in, she didn't even need a weapon to do any damage. Her voice was icy and hard enough on it's own. More importantly, House felt it two. She could see him twitch, even cringe at every single uttered word.

When his eyes had finally left the door Buffy had left minutes earlier, they met hers. And, probably most surprising in this whole situation, Cuddy could see some kind of regret in them. Not breaking their stare, she waited for him at the top of the stairs.

Then again, listening to the subsequent dialogue with his fellows, she wondered if she maybe had imagined his regret. Wishful thinking and all that. Leading House to her office, knowing he'd follow her at least out of curiosity, she vowed to find out.

Even the smallest possibility of House regretting something was too intriguing to not follow up.

Mentally shaking her head at that last thought, she – not for the first time either – wondered if she'd already spent too much time with him so that his curiosity was starting to rub off on her.

--

Quietly closing the door behind her, Cuddy followed House to her office couch. He was sitting on its edge, chin resting on his hands on top of his cane.

"I guess I don't have to tell you that this was way out of order. Even for you," Cuddy more stated than asked after several minutes of silence.

Snorting, House finally leaned back into the couch, putting his aching leg up onto the low table in front of it. "Well done, Sherlock."

"House," Cuddy sighed annoyed.

"What!?" House all but snarled back at her. "It's not like I can miraculously turn back time. Can you?"

Looking at him more closely, Cuddy said astonished, "You really are sorry." So she hadn't just imagined things. Despite him quickly reverting back to his old ways with his fellows.

Making a dismissive hand gesture, House went back to staring into the distance. Cuddy, knowing him well enough to realise he needed to muddle through his reasons for being, well, _upset_ at his own actions, before sending him back to work, figured she might just as well get some work in. That way, at least one of them was doing what they were paid for.

Cuddy was in the middle of going over the data from the paediatricians ward again when she was startled by House suddenly speaking up. "What aren't you telling me?"

Her brain still working numbers, Cuddy had trouble catching up onto his train of thoughts. "Huh?"

"Summers." House clarified exasperatedly. "I might have been wrong in making that comment, but her reaction was way beyond normal."

Frowning, House was right after all, Cuddy slowly shook her head. "I don't know anything apart from what I told you already."

At Cuddy's answer House started to tap his fingers on his good leg. "Why not?"

Leaning back into her chair, Cuddy crossed her arms in front of her. "Because this is a hospital, not a police station?" she stated sarcastically. "It's called private life for a reason."

"Cuddy." Sighing, House rubbed his face tiredly. "Look. I know I was probably wrong. But … did you _actually_ see my fellows moving away from her? Did you _actually_ see the fear in their eyes?"

"Sure, I used my patented looking-around-corners look to see your fellows' eyes despite standing behind them," Cuddy said, rolling her eyes at him. But I could see it in your posture, she added in her mind. Which tells more than all the fear-eyed fellows in this hospital taken together.

House couldn't help himself but smiled at her droll announcement, nodding in acceptance.

Closing her eyes in an attempt to fend off the threatening headache, Cuddy continued wearily, "Just leave her alone."

"Why?"

Because she's none of your business. Because it's the right thing to do. Because you hurt her enough. Because ... because seeing her like this changed something. Visibly shaking her head to get rid of her ever growing confusion of just why it mattered so much, Cuddy replied almost too quietly for House to hear, saying only one word. "Because."

Furrowing his brows, House slowly stood up and limped to her desk while watching her closely. Reaching forward to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his hand stopped only inches away from its destination. Rolling his eyes at himself, he quickly retrieved his wayward appendage and tucked it safely into his pants pocket. "That's not a reason."

Looking up at hearing his voice so close to her when just moments before he'd still been seated on her office couch, Cuddy just glared at him. It's not like he was going to listen to her anyway.

"What about her references?" He suddenly asked.

That question threw her off. "You mean you haven't checked them out?"

Shaking his head in confirmation, House smirked down at her.

"That's a first." Brows furrowing in concentration, Cuddy watched him closely. "How do you know – _what_ do you know – about her boyfriend, then?"

House shrugged his shoulders impassively. "Got run over by a drunk driver shortly before Buffy came here." This wasn't all that interesting. Things like that happened all the time, after all. He was more interested in how such a small person like Buffy could radiate so much raw power.

"What!" Fuming, Cuddy forcefully stood up and walked around her desk. Stabbing him repeatedly with her index finger, her voice became dangerously low. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Split lip, professionally covered black eye are commonly accepted signs of domestic violence."

Stabbing him for a final time, Cuddy threw his arms in the air in frustration. "She just lost her boyfriend. She is obviously still grieving. You can't just throw a comment like that at her!"

"And her eye and lip?" House asked just as heatedly.

"Accident."

Snorting, House walked towards the office door. Opening it, he turned his head towards Cuddy and added, voice dripping with venom, "Said the repeatedly beaten wife before ending up in a body bag."

Cuddy could only stare after him open mouthed. Sitting back down again she suddenly realised his comment was, in some very twisted way, his way of showing concern towards Buffy's injuries.

Leaning back, Cuddy laughed humourlessly. She'd only seen the young woman a few times, spoke to her even less, and yet Buffy Summers kept popping up on her radar more and more. And after today's, admittedly, fairly disturbing display in the lecture theatre – despite it being House's fault and only his – she won't have a choice but keep an eye on her.

She just couldn't lose the niggling feeling that she was missing something. Something big.

--

As luck would have it, Dr Marmine came up to Buffy shortly after she had left the small lecture theatre, asking why she wasn't with Dr House like he had asked her to do. Buffy simply ignored him and just went on to her already waiting patient. As one of Dr Marmine's rules was to not fight in front of any patients, bad for business and all that, he didn't followed her in. If it had been her shared office with any other of her co-workers present it would have clearly been a different matter.

When she was in-between patients, Buffy went onto the roof. On the way back after her first break there she found an 'Closed until further notice' sign on the door. Seemed like House really _was_ sorry. In fact, she'd seen something in his eyes the very moment she locked onto them after his comment. This was probably the only reason the Slayer hadn't literally ripped him into pieces on the spot. Witnesses present or not.

If asked later she wouldn't be able to say how, but Buffy managed to go through the rest of her work day. True, her body was on autopilot, or rather Slayer-pilot, but she made it. If barely.

Luckily Kamil, Julian and Keelan, her immediate co-workers, sensed that something was off and Buffy graved nothing but space and solitude. Still, they managed to get her to drink and eat a few snippets between patients. They just were there whenever Buffy exited a room, a cup of water, a piece of fruit or similar in hand. As eating or drinking meant she couldn't talk, Buffy took the offered things and in return was left alone.

Glad that the day was finally over, Buffy took the quickest route home. All she wanted now was to crawl into bed and hide under the duvet. Forever. Or at least a very long time. The Slayer, however, had other things in mind. Being as mentally exhausted as Buffy was, she didn't put up much of a fight and, after changing, went for the nearest demon bar.

However, no matter how hard the Slayer tried, none of the physical pain inflicted on her by the sheer amount of demons she pissed of that night could reduce Buffy's mental pain. Could lessen the renewed heart ache for her fiancée.

--

If anything, House's action made the Princeton-Plainsboro area much securer for the next couple of weeks.

Not that Buffy went out every night, no, she'd only gone hunting for two days when the general demon population decided that whatever had the Slayer pissed off, they better let it settle down before they set another foot into Plainsboro again. Or Princeton. Or anywhere else close by. Naturally, the D.E. Moon travel agency for 'The Unusual Holiday' made a nice profit during that time.

--

_A/N: Just to explain how important reviews are for me: I wasn't completely happy with parts of this chapter. After reading your reviews, I rewrote big chunks of it and am much happier now! And figured that one of the things not right was that I had written House too nice! In other words, I really appreciate the time you are taking to review! __Thanks._


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Groaning, Buffy blindly grabbed for her annoyingly insistent ringing phone. Cuddling further into her couch, she snapped at whoever was calling. "What?"

"Yo, B. You alright?"

"Faith?" Buffy asked, finally fully awake from her, admittedly, unplanned Saturday afternoon nap. "Something wrong?"

"You've been asleep?" Faith asked curiously. "Something nasty going on I can help with?"

Blushing, glad Faith couldn't see her, Buffy sat up. "Nope. Nothing. Everything's fine. Great, actually." Stopping, Buffy took a deep breath to calm her, even to herself, too cheerful sounding voice.

"You sure?" Faith promptly asked unconvinced.

"Yeah. Slayed a Spandex-thingy on Tuesday, a few others baddies later on." Hearing Faith chuckle on the other end, Buffy furrowed her brow in confusion. "That's not that funny. You should have seen the Spandex demon. I'm still cringing just thinking about it's very, very wrong fashion sense."

Laughing, Faith asked, "Let me guess. Spandex suit?"

"Brightly coloured." Buffy shuddered just at the thought of it. "Bastard was snacking on the kids in the hospital."

"Ouch. Sounds nasty."

"Yeah. The bugger was quite uncooperative too. Trashed the room before he let me kill him," Buffy complained good naturedly. "And he ruined my outfit."

Faith snickered. "Bastard. How did the hospital explain the redecoration?"

"No idea. Took the kid to another room and he told everyone he's always been there." Buffy said, getting herself a drink from the kitchen. "Told him it'd be our secret."

"If it works. Anyway, you sure everything else is okay?" Faith asked, concern back in her voice.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy said, "Yes Mom!"

"Ouch." Faith commented.

This time it was Buffy who snickered. "All those teenage girls finally getting to you?"

"I'm sure Red put a spell on me to make me agree to this whole teaching thing," Faith complained. Though the fond tone it was said in clearly betrayed her words. "So, care to tell me why we suddenly have a whole bunch of demons from your area visiting with Clem?"

The glass with orange juice stopping in mid-air, Buffy asked confused, "Huh?"

"Couple of days ago Clem started to get more and more call from friends and acquaintances wanting to visit. Turns out their home turf got a bit too hot for them."

"And I repeat, huh?" Buffy said, putting the now empty glass onto the couch table.

Chuckling, Faith continued, "B, they're from the Princeton-Plainsboro area."

"There's some _Big Bad_ out here and nobody told me? That's just rude." Buffy pouted.

"Actually, it's more like a _Small Good_." Faith chuckled. "Seems like you frightened the shit out of the demon population this last week."

"Who, me?" Buffy asked. One particular phrase finally reaching the appropriate parts of her brain, she pouted, "And _Small Good_?"

"Sorry, B." Faith audible smiled at her friend's pout.

"No you're not." Buffy kept on pouting. Knowing Faith couldn't see her didn't help either. "It's not my fault most people are too selfish to stop with the growing when I did," Buffy added grumbling.

"You're simply too modest, B," Faith commented helpfully.

"Exactly."

Snickering again, Faith became more serious again. "So what brought on that not so little rampage of yours?"

Sighing, Buffy decided she might just as well tell Faith. She wouldn't judge her or come over to check up on her if Buffy didn't want to. Especially as she'd already dealt with the aftermath and was feeling much more balanced again. So, getting comfortable once more, Buffy told Faith about the confrontation with House and her little sweep through Princeton-Plainsboro's underworld.

And, long after finishing her conversation, Buffy discovered that she liked the idea of demons, good and bad, hiding from her. Okay, it wasn't a surprise. But it was nice to actually hear it spoken out loud.

So, just to keep her momentum going, she kept on doing thorough patrols throughout the weekend. Besides, being mean and scary was so much more fun when you were actually aware of it.

--

On Monday, five days after the incident, House was paying Coma Guy another visit. It was General Hospital time.

He'd just settled down, feet up high on Coma Guy's bed, when Buffy strolled in. Like she hadn't ignored him for the better part of a week.

Shocked, to say the least, House was about to comment when a look into her eyes stopped him short. Gone were the cold eyes of a predator on the hunt but he could still the remnants of the pain he knew he'd caused. Yes, he'd only gotten a glimpse of that before the expression in Buffy's eyes became neutral once more, but he was also pretty sure she allowed him to see it on purpose.

So, for once, he refrained from commenting on the cut on her lip. The one that had wandered from top lip to bottom lip and was now matching his own injury he'd receive a couple of days ago. Instead, he took his clues from her actions and stood up.

Turning away, Buffy took towels and a couple of bottles out of the bag she brought with her. When she looked at House again, he'd taken his jeans off and, having pulled over another chair, had put his injured leg up.

Taking the bigger towel, Buffy carefully lifted his leg and put it under it. Squirting some kind of oil onto her hands, she started to work the muscles around his scar.

House watched in fascinating how her small but powerful hands kneaded the tense muscles. Or whatever was left of them. At the same time she managed to not only ignore him and his staring at her completely but not once did she end up obscuring his view of the television. Not that he really watched it. Observing Buffy was way more interesting. Besides, he'd programmed his TiVo at home anyway. For emergencies like this, of course.

Next to the once more split lip, though he wondered briefly why he couldn't see any remnants of the other cut, he counted several more scratches and bruises on her body. One time her top had slipped up a bit while she was leaning over his leg and he could see the outlines of a nasty looking bruise appearing just under the hem of her shirt. Similar, when she rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, he could see four parallel lines of nasty looking scratches starting. Although, realising she'd rolled up her shirt too far, Buffy quickly pulled it down again.

Throughout their rather unconventional physiotherapy session the questions were sitting on top of his tongue. But one glance from Buffy, a clear warning written in those half-closed eyes, prevented him from speaking. Which was another thing puzzling him. Because, really, since when did he listen to hidden or not so hidden warnings? Weird.

Finally accepting that their wouldn't be any talk today, House watched the final part of General Hospital while thinking back on his call to Rome. He'd finally managed to get the contact details for her references from her file and, naturally, hadn't wasted anymore time and called them. The hospital could afford the occasional international call after all.

First thing he had learned was that Buffy was well liked and obviously knew what she was doing. Secondly, and more interesting to him, she'd hooked up with on of the course tutors quite early on. Naughty girl. And they'd been engaged. Ops. Interestingly, he'd been living in Rome for several years and never spoke of his family back here. Or showed any interest in moving back to the States. Yet, shortly after Buffy finished her course and had asked for references to apply to the program here at Princeton-Plainsboro, he'd started to hint that he was looking into leaving Italy too.

So, whatever the reason for Buffy to come here, he didn't believe in coincidence or such nonsense after all, had nothing to do with her boyfriend. Well, fiancée. Also, as far as he could find out from the hospital in Rome – he'd managed to charm one of the references' secretary into revealing all the gossip she knew without her realising it – Buffy's family was in Rome as well. Or at least in Europe. So why would she want to come back to the States? To be closer to her mother's grave couldn't be it. Seeing as it was on the bottom of what was now called Lake Sunnydale.

That was another remarkable connection. How could an entire town just be swallowed into a sinkhole? Without any prior warning? Because the possibility of a town being swallowed up would have made it on the national news. No questions asked. Stupid humanity and their often hypocritical wish to help others in need. They'd probably have stumbled over themselves just to get there first and help those poor souls.

Instead they only heard about it after the act. Yet the people from Sunnydale itself had left beforehand. Only they couldn't tell why. They just felt like leaving one morning and did it. What kind of rubbish was that?

After the calls to Italy he'd snooped around the hospitals in the area and, unsurprisingly, found out Buffy's fiancée had indeed applied for jobs in several of them. Including Princeton-Plainsboro. And apparently rather successful too.

Oblivious to House's train of thoughts Buffy carefully worked on his leg. She'd contemplated finding him for the past days, but just couldn't face him. Luckily he must have talked to Dr Marmine, as he'd left her alone after informing her that Dr House had agreed for her to look after his leg. For now. Dr Marmine didn't seem happy about it. Not that she cared or anything as long as he left her to work in peace.

Then Faith had called and for the first time Buffy had actually talked about the downward spiral House's comment had sent her on. And, after Faith offered to come and play a few rounds with the doctor, Buffy had admitted that in the end she actually liked House. Despite everything that happened. Besides, after beating up enough demons and having time to think everything through, she admitted that the initial shock had worn off pretty fast and she wasn't that much worse for wear. So, this morning, she made the decision to hunt House down. Although with no intention of letting him off the hook easily.

What had left her more unsettled though was the fact that Lisa Cuddy seemed to watch her closely whenever their path crossed. She'd even pulled one of the ER doctors in this whole messed up affair. Well, that's what Buffy thought, anyway. Friday, after a second night of almost no sleep but fight after demon fight, she'd been stopped by a young woman on her usual way through the open clinic.

"Hey, are you alright?" The blonde doctor had asked with a concern laced voice.

Buffy, having been deep in thought, had looked up in surprise. "Huh? Oh, sure. I'm fine."

Pointing towards her lip, the blonde doctor had continued, "That looks kinda nasty."

Buffy had just shrugged her shoulders and was about to walk away when the other woman had, admittedly gently, grabbed her arm. "I'm Allison Cameron, I'm working in the ER. I could have a closer look, you know?"

Biting her lip nervously – right on the fresh cut, of course – Buffy had shook her head. "Naw. That's not necessary. Really."

"It's bleeding again." Allison had pointed out and, hand still on Buffy's arm, she had started to gently pull her towards the ER.

As Buffy had just seen Cuddy coming their way, she'd only grumbled something incoherent but had relented. She definitely hadn't wanted to talk to Cuddy so Buffy had decided to go with the lesser of two evils.

So for the next few minutes she had allowed Dr Cameron to fuss over her. Once she seemed to have finally finished, Buffy had started to get of the bed she'd been sitting on when the doctor had once more restrained her. Looking at Buffy passionately, she had said, "Don't take whatever Dr House says to your heart. You only end up hurting yourself while for him it's only a game."

At that Buffy had raised her eyebrows and looked at Cameron questioningly. There was obviously more behind her fussing over her than Buffy had given her credit for.

Sighing, Dr Cameron had taken a seat next to Buffy. "I've been working with House as one of his fellows for the past three years. Don't take me wrong, I've learned much more than I could've anywhere else. But his methods, inside and outside him practising medicine, are rather unique."

Snorting, Buffy had replied, "You mean often unconventional, illegal and highly inappropriate? I got that already."

"Then there are his people skills," Cameron had continued carefully.

Buffy had barely resisted to roll her eyes at that. Instead she had said rather ironically, "Well, I think I saw them hiding in the back of his bottom drawer once." Seeing the confused look Cameron had been giving her at that, Buffy had continued, "Look. I really appreciate your concern, Dr. Cameron-"

"Allison."

"- Right. Allison. But I can handle House. He might be a bastard, but at least he doesn't try to hide it."

Scrutinising Buffy, Allison had finally nodded. Then, pointing to her lip, she had asked, "What about that lip? You aren't in trouble, are you?"

Jumping off the bed, Buffy had given her a small, yet genuine, smile. "Nope. I can handle myself just fine." Even if she'd hurt her lip twice this week already. Stupid uncooperative demons. Turning around for a last time before leaving the ER, Buffy had added, "See you around, Allison."

In fact, Allison had come up to her during her earlier lunch break today. Buffy had just gotten a sandwich and something to drink before finding a quiet bank in the nearby park. A couple of minutes later Allison had sat down next to her. After giving Buffy a, badly, concealed once-over to check for further injuries, Allison had eaten her lunch in silence. Actually making an effort in dispersing any concern directed towards her, Buffy had asked Allison what she knew about House's preferred hiding places and, after explaining why she wanted to know, Allison had told her just what she needed to know.

Coming back to the present, Buffy finished with House's leg and wondered if he realised there was a small, but growing, group of people considering him something like a friend. And that, slowly but surely, he was dragging her into it this group as well.

This didn't mean she was going to forgive him for his comment and the fresh pain it caused anytime soon. Well, at least she wasn't going to tell him she'd forgiven him anytime soon. But she also couldn't see herself keeping away from him – on a personal level that is – forever. She'd already accepted that, as weird as it may sound, he was good for her. Just like she'd told Faith a couple of days ago.

Or she wouldn't be here, having just given him his first treatment. And feel strangely comforted by it.

Lifting a once again closed bag, Buffy looked at House for the first time openly since she entered the room almost an hour earlier. "See you Wednesday."

Nodding, House silently accepted. At least the pained look had vanished from her eyes. And he was pretty sure he'd even seen the tiniest of smiles on her lips at one time during their session.

--

Not bothering with knocking, House opened the door to Wilson's office and let himself fall onto his friend's couch with a satisfied sigh. Getting comfortable, he grinned at an irritated Wilson.

"What? It's not like you've got a patient in here," House said, motioning around the room. At Wilson's exasperated sigh, House eyes twinkled mischievously. "Unless you've hidden her?"

Shaking his head, Wilson denied House's question.

"Him?" House asked, eyebrows wandering high up his forehead.

"House!" Wilson replied resigned before covering his face with his hands. "What do you want this time."

"Brag about my rendezvous in Coma Guy's room," House replied smugly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Ha ha. Very funny." As with House around there was no way he'd get some work done, Wilson figured he might just as well have a break. Opening one of his drawer, he got a banana and started to peel it.

"There was naked flesh, _my_ naked flesh," Holding up his hand for Wilson to see, House ticked off his fingers one by one as he continued. "Female hands on said naked flesh, towels to soak up any fluids, lots of scented oil _and_ I actually have to watch the TiVo-ed episode of General Hospital as I missed most of it."

Staring at House open-mouthed, Wilson was thankfully saved from doing some embarrassing sounds by a knock on his door. Giving his friend another incredulous look, Wilson asked his saviour to enter.

"Dr Cuddy," Wilson greeted her enthusiastically.

Eyebrows shooting skywards, Cuddy looked from him to House and back. Judging by House's smug appearance, he'd obviously done or said something to throw Wilson off. Again. "What did House do now."

Sitting up, House shrugged his shoulders innocently. "Just told him about my … visit with Coma Guy."

"And?" Cuddy prompted. "Was General Hospital _that_ interesting?"

Pressing his hands over his heart, House answered in mock hurt. "Ouch. I went to show my compassion for that poor guy as he never gets any visitors and you blatantly imply me insincere motives!"

Wilson just snorted while Cuddy rolled her eyes. "As if any of us would believe that."

"Apparently he missed today's episode because of a rendezvous including nakedness and scented oils," Wilson added, still unsure as of what to make of this.

Face lightening up with a dazzling smile, Cuddy turned to House. "So you enjoyed yourself then?"

His eyes coming dangerously close to popping out, Wilson looked flabbergasted between his two friends. "Wha- … How?"

"One of Dr Marmine's fellows pinned him down for a first of those massages House agreed to a couple of weeks ago," Cuddy replied, taking pity on Wilson. Looking back at House, she added playfully, "And he obviously enjoyed it."

Huffing, House crossed his arms. "Way to go to destroy what little fun I have in life," he announced in a clear pout, looking darkly at Cuddy. "How do you know anyway?"

Smiling, she settled on the edge of Wilson's desk. "I've got my sources."


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

A faint smile lingering on her lips in remembrance of today's meeting in Wilson's office, Cuddy took her dinner into the living room to indulge in a lazy night. She might have brought some paperwork home with her, but that was more like an alibi to sooth her guilty conscience. Once in a while she needed the night completely off to recharge her batteries. Today was such a night.

Changing channels until she found a chick flick, Cuddy made herself comfortable on the couch. And tugged into the fries and the oversized burger - meatless and selfmade, thank you very much - in front of her. Bad food was a crucial part of these rare relaxing nights after all.

She was licking the remnants of grease off her fingers when the phone rang. Groaning, she closed her eyes, hoping it wasn't House. Though judging by his generally off timing, she wouldn't have that much luck. Knowing it'd be better to answer and get it over with, she leaned over to grab the phone.

"Cuddy," she snapped into the receiver.

"Oh. I'm not interrupting something, am I?" A voice from her past answered.

Cuddy sat up straight, a mixture of dread and disbelieve clearly visible in her movements. Taking the phone from her ear, she looked at it to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

It couldn't be, could it?

Of course it could. You were trying to reach him for almost two weeks now, remember? A small voice whispered in her head.

Taking a shaky breath, Cuddy answered quietly, "Mr Giles?"

"Yes, Lisa. How are you?" Giles asked pleasantly.

"I … I've tried to reach you," Cuddy replied, suddenly feeling a bit like the 15-year old Potential she had been so many years ago.

Smiling, though Cuddy couldn't see it, Giles replied, "Yes, yes. So I've heard. Is everything alright?"

"Yes. No." Cuddy stammered. Taking another deep breath, she finally settled on "I don't know."

"Right." Of course he had a pretty good idea what Lisa was calling about. "Why don't you tell me how you've been all those year and what's on your mind?"

Nodding, Cuddy did just that. She told him about her carrier since finishing medical school. And was pleased at his approval and him clearly being proud of her achievements. Then she told him about the children's ward and the weird happenings. How she thought it might actually be something out of her league.

"I see," Giles said thoughtfully once she was finished.

Smiling widely, Cuddy said slyly, "I think I can hear you cleaning your glasses."

At hearing something that suspiciously sounded like a snort in the background, Cuddy frowned. "Who was that?"

"Ah, sorry," Giles said sheepishly. "That was Dawn. She just came in to show me something and then listened in to your description of your problem." After a short pause in which Cuddy realised some sort of quiet conversation was taking place on Mr Giles, no Giles as he'd asked her to call him, side, Giles added, "And now she is going to leave again."

Hearing Giles sigh exasperated, Cuddy asked, "She rolled her eyes, didn't she?"

There was snickering in the background. Then a click. "Yep, she did." The voice of what must be a young woman suddenly came loud and clearly through the phone.

"Dawn," Giles sighed again. Cuddy guessed the earlier click was from the phone being put on loudspeaker.

Clearly ignoring Giles, the young woman continued, "So you're Giles former Potential, huh?"

"Dawn!"

"What? It's not like it's a secret or anything." Staring at the phone, Cuddy could clearly hear the pout in Dawn's voice. Then Cuddy flinched in alarm, "What do you mean by it's not a secret?"

"Ops," Dawn replied sheepishly. "I guess that came out wrong."

"Yes," Giles agreed exasperated. "What Dawn meant it's known to a handful of selected people and, unfortunately, Dawn is one of them."

"Hey!" Dawn exclaimed clearly not amused.

"Yes, my dear?" Giles replied sweetly.

Cuddy just stared at her phone once more. What the hell was going on here? Finally she just blurted out the first thing coming to her mind, "Are you the Slayer?"

Silence.

Then she could hear both Dawn and Giles break into laughter. Which, of course, confused her only more.

"Sorry, my dear," Giles was the first to recover. "I'm afraid we'd be doomed if that was the case."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Willow put a tracking device on you so it made finding you easier," Giles said patiently. To Cuddy it sounded like a long-going yet good-natured argument. One of those you'd associated with happening in a loving family.

Still trying to wrap her mind around everything, Cuddy asked, "Why would this Willow do this?"

"Over-protectiveness." Dawn was quick to point out.

Sighing – and giving Cuddy the impression he was cleaning his glasses again – Giles said, "Dawn here made a hobby of getting kidnapped by the bad guys. Bu-"

"Don't listen to him!" Dawn quickly interrupted.

"But she's thankfully grown out of it," Giles continued fondly. "Mostly."

"Huh." Cuddy's mind was boggling with all the unexpected information it suddenly had to deal with. "That's good. Right?"

"Yes," two voices replied in unison.

"Good," Cuddy managed. Although she didn't really know why. And why had she wanted to call Giles anyway? Right. "So, what about my hospital? Any idea if it could be something more in your line of work?" Then Cuddy remembered she hadn't even asked if he was still working with the supernatural. Then again, the young woman, Dawn, knew about her being a former Potential. Still, Cuddy had to be sure. "I mean, you're still working for the Watcher's Council, right?"

"No. Well, yes. I mean-" Giles started hesitantly.

"Translated that means that the old Council had the decency to get themselves killed but we've rebuilt since," Dawn interrupted once more.

Eyes bulging out, Cuddy asked incredulously, "Decency to get themselves killed?"

"They were nothing but a bunch of uptight righteous assholes. Well, most of them anyway." Dawn explained, clearly agitated by the thought of the old Council.

"Right." After what they did to her she couldn't feel sorry for them either. Then again, that meant the last connection to her daughter was gone too. Blinking back a tear, she asked in a slightly shaky voice, "So, my hospital?" She would mourn the loss of her daughter later.

In London, Giles and Dawn shared a look at the shaky voice coming through the speaker. Both had a very good idea what was going through Lisa Cuddy's head right now.

"Princeton-Plainsboro, right?" Dawn asked gently.

Cuddy nodded. Then realising they wouldn't see her, she said, "Yes."

"We've got an anonymous tip a week ago and it's been taken care off," Giles said just as gently as Dawn had earlier.

Thoughts of her daughter being pushed to the back once again, Cuddy perked up, "Really?"

"Yep," Dawn said enthusiastically. "The Shakelrilach demon is all dead, chopped up and on a one-way trip to hell."

"Uhm, do I want to know?" Cuddy asked cautiously, furrowing her eyebrows while remembering the destructed room on the children's ward. That must have been where the demon had been killed.

"Probably not," Giles replied in that voice that, even after all these years, Cuddy associated with him cleaning his glasses. So she asked a question she had already pondered as a teenager. "Do you actually need your glasses?"

"Huh?" Giles asked confused while Cuddy could hear Dawn snicker in the background.

"Well, as often as you clean them, they must be more often in your hands than on your nose," Cuddy clarified smiling. It was comforting to know some things never changed.

Dawn was now outright laughing at Giles. "I actually wondered that myself," Dawn piped up. Sobering, she added abruptly, "I like you. Call me Dawn."

Cuddy blushed, gasping. "Thanks. I guess you can call me Lisa."

Coughing, Giles said quietly, "I'll give you my phone number so you can contact me if anything else comes up."

"Thanks." Twisting one of the cushions in her lap, Cuddy bit her lip in nervousness. "Do you … do you know anything about… you know?"

Dawn, sensing this was something Giles needed to do alone, quickly said her good-bye and Giles didn't speak until after Cuddy heard a door being closed. "Yes."

The breath catching in her throat, Cuddy asked hoarsely, "Really? I thought, I mean, with the Council gone…"

"We recently found some documents," Giles explained. "They … it's not pretty."

Gasping, tears already pooling in her eyes, Cuddy could only think of one thing. "They killed her?"

Realising his mistake, Giles was quick to reassure her. "No! No. She isn't dead." Well, she died several times, he added in his mind. But he said, "What I mean is reading how far they've gone wasn't pretty."

"She's alive," was all Cuddy could think off right now. That was all that counted. Somewhere, out there, she had a daughter.

"Yes."

"What… what did they do?" Cuddy finally asked. She just had to know.

So Giles told her about the length the Council went to disguise her. Changing her appearance magically, making her parents almost forget she was actually adopted in the first place. Manipulation all and everyone involved in any way think- and unthinkable.

Finally, after having listened to Gile's explanation, Cuddy asked, "Do you know where she is?"

"Yes," Giles finally admitted.

"Does she know… you know?" Cuddy asked both hopefully and terrified at the same time.

"Yes."

"Oh." She simply didn't know what else to say. On one side she was glad her daughter was alive, but on the other she was disappointed Giles hadn't tried to find and tell her. They might not have been in contact for years, but still, Cuddy had trusted him he'd contact her as soon as he'd learned something new.

"I'm sorry," Giles said. "She's been just as shocked to find out she's been adopted as you were about the way everything happened. She just needs time to wrap her mind around it."

"Okay," Cuddy said, disappointment clearly tainting her voice.

"Lisa, give her time." Giles said gently.

"Does she know I didn't want to give her away?" Lisa asked almost inaudible.

"Yes. And how to contact you. She asked me not to tell you, she wanted to do so herself." Giles explained. "Lisa, trust her. She'll contact you once she's ready."

By now tears were openly streaming down her face. "Really?"

Smiling, Giles confirmed, "Really."

"My daughter…" Lisa mumbled.

"Yes," Giles said fondly. "You can be proud of her. She's a good woman."

"My daughter…"

--

Buffy, blissfully unaware of the uproar Giles' phone call had caused last night, was quickly walking towards the cafeteria for lunch. She was starving.

Just as she was about to enter, Allison caught up with her.

"Hey, mind if we join you?" she asked Buffy before pointing to the blond doctor next to her. "Buffy, this is Dr Robert Chase. Chase, this is Buffy Summers."

Buffy nodded politely towards who she knew to be Allison's boyfriend. "Sure. As long as you don't mind meeting with my friends."

After getting their food, not without Chase staring unbelievingly at the amount of food on Buffy's tray, Buffy introduced them to Kamil, Julian and Keelan. Luckily everyone got along quite well and lunch turned into a rather relaxing occasion.

"Did you read that police report in today's paper?" Kamil asked before eating the last of his fries.

Seeing several shakes of heads, Chase asked, "The one about violent crimes unexplainable but noticeable having gone down during last week?"

Buffy perked up at that. It couldn't have to do with her, uhm, increased night activities, could it?

"That's the one," Kamil agreed. "Don't you think it's a bit weird?"

"Why?" Julian asked. "Can't say I'm too disturbed by having less crime in the area," he added with raised eyebrows.

"I'm not complaining either," Kamil said. "But I'd still liked to know why, don't you?"

"A fluke?" Keelan suggested while shrugging his shoulders. "Or maybe there was a summer holiday special for tough guys?"

Chuckling, after all, Faith had told her about the D.E. Moon travel agencies profits as most of Clem's friends arranged their travels through them, Buffy piped up innocently. "Well, guess it's my fault. I went a bit wild on the bad guys. Must have scared the smarter ones off."

Closing her eyes, she slowly chewed on the chocolaty richness that was the brownie she got for dessert. Finally opening her eyes again, she found everyone staring back at her. "What?" She asked with a slight pout. "The brownie is really good."

"We can see that," Allison teased her.

"Yep, we can," Keelan agreed grinning. Pointing towards the now empty plates in front of her, he added good-naturedly, "So did you threat the bad guys with eating all their food if they don't leave?"

Buffy nodded. "Something like that."

"Well done," Julian said, patting Buffy's back. "Maybe you should tell the police your tactics?"

"Nope," Buffy replied grinning, "Where'd be the fun in that?"

The remainder of the meal was spent with more laughter and jokes. Smiling, Buffy watched the people around her table, joking about her single-handedly taking out quite a few of the criminals in the Princeton-Plainsboro area. It felt great to tell the truth but not being taken seriously. It meant they didn't see her as the superhero her acquired family did. It made her one of the crowd. Made her normal like everyone else.

--

Meanwhile James Wilson was sitting in his office, unseeingly staring at his computer monitor.

After learning the small Blonde from the cafeteria had been the one that had finally managed to get House interested enough in herself to be allowed to work on his leg, he'd started digging.

Ever after that first meeting a few weeks ago he had the nagging feeling he knew her, or of her, from somewhere. He just couldn't place it. Then, after hearing her name for the first time, that nagging feeling had come back tenfold. So he had started digging.

And finally he had found his answer.

And he didn't like it one bit. Especially as House seemed to be rather fond of her and Cuddy seemed to go down the same road.

He would have to watch Buffy Summers carefully.

She was dangerous.

She had killed, even if indirectly, before.

He had to protect his friends.

--

_A/N: Like it? Don't know where Dawn came from though, she just kinda sneaked in there… Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it and usually end up with an idea or two on how to include certain things!  
_


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Walking towards yet another cemetery, Buffy pondered the phone call she just had with Giles. There'd been a minor crisis that needed dealing with, so he hadn't been able to reach her immediately after he talked to Lisa Cuddy. At least the crisis had been dealt with straight away.

She knew. Her mother knew that Giles had found her daughter. Namely Buffy. Now it truly was for her to decide when to make the next step.

If was funny. Buffy had faced so many monsters, demons and apocalypses in her life yet nothing had been as scary as the prospect of walking up to the woman that had given birth to her. Well, walking up to her and introducing herself as her daughter.

At first Buffy hadn't been sure if she even wanted to do that. Especially as she had had a mother who had truly loved her. Wouldn't meeting her biological mother mean betrayal of Joyce Summers? To get a grip on that question had been the reason for applying for that position at Princeton-Plainsboro. But now, after having actually met her, Buffy knew her biological mother was a good woman. In fact, she and Joyce would probably have gotten along quite well.

Buffy had also realised that her mom wouldn't have wanted Buffy to avoid her biological mother just to avoid hurting her, Joyce's, feelings, especially given the circumstances that led to Buffy's adoption. No, she couldn't use her mom's feelings as excuse to not confront her biological mother anymore and, Buffy realised, she didn't want to either.

Last, but not least, Dawn liked her. Well, as much as you can like a person after a short phone call anyway. Still, Dawn was usually pretty good at judging people. As long as they weren't demons or vampires, that is. In those situations her radar had been known to be off now and then.

Sighing, Buffy kicked a stone that had the misfortune of lying in her way. Unfortunately, knowing what she wanted to do and actually doing it were two completely different matters.

Rolling her neck, Buffy entered the cemetery. At least here she knew what to do.

She might be unable to run away from officially meeting her biological mother forever, but for tonight she had a good excuse. She had a small nest of vampires to kill.

--

House frowned. Wilson had seemed to be extra gloomy these last couple of days. He hadn't even complained or moaned at having to pay for House's lunch. Something was definitely going on here.

He was about to comment on it when the cafeteria doors opened and his favourite physiotherapist entered. The Wilson mystery forgotten for the moment, House let his eyes roam over her body. Interestingly, or rather, oddly, it wasn't to check her out per se. He was actually looking for any more injuries.

The expression on Wilson's face, on the other hand, became even grumpier once he realised the reason for the playful smile on House's lips. He had to do something to stop this madness. He didn't want House to go down the same road as …, he couldn't even think that name!

Of course, with House you couldn't just go to him and say you have a bad feeling about a person. If anything, it would make him more interested in her! Frustrated, and unable to stand House grinning at Buffy Summers any longer, Wilson crumpled his napkin and pushed his half eaten fries away. He stood up abruptly, ignoring House's raised eyebrows. "I have to go."

"Gee, I wouldn't have guessed that," House snorted. Unfortunately Wilson hadn't even waited for a reply but went straight for the door. Shrugging, House pulled Wilson's fries over and got comfortable again to watch Buffy from across the room.

--

"What now?" Cuddy snapped into her phone - and flinched. She knew the interruption wasn't her secretary's fault, but part of her job. Making a mental note to apologise later, Cuddy took several calming breaths before answering the phone. Snapping at potential new donors wouldn't exactly help the hospital.

After what seemed like ages, Cuddy put the phone down again. At least the time hadn't been wasted and the hospital had a nice check coming its way. However, the habitual smile didn't want to come as easily as it usually did. She just couldn't stop thinking of her daughter.

What would she look like? How would she react to her? What would she think of her? What exactly had Giles told her about the circumstances of her adoption? Would she really believe it wasn't Cuddy's fault, that Cuddy really hadn't wanted to give her up for adoption? That she had basically been brainwashed into doing so? What was her name so she could stop referring to her as 'her'? Would she actually turn up in the first place? And the questions went on and on before starting again all over again. It was like a tape being played on an endless loop.

Just as the tape reached its end and was about to start again, the door to her office opened – yet nobody entered. Then, very slowly, the bottom part of a cane followed by a foot appeared. Leaning back in her chair, not knowing if she should be annoyed or thankful for the interruption, Cuddy watched as the top of House's head appeared sideways until his eyes locked onto her.

Seeing her raised eyebrows, House quickly stepped in, calling back over his shoulder. "Don't go and call that S.W.A.T. team just yet. I might actually get away without one." Entering the office fully, House closed the door behind him and, leaning onto the cane in front of him with both of his hands, eyed Cuddy closely. "Can't be PMS, it's too early. I've been good the last couple of days too, so that can't be it either. So, spill, what's wrong?"

Glaring at him, Cuddy crossed her arms in front of her and actually pouted. Seeing the corner of House's mouth raise slightly at her actions didn't exactly help either. "Nothing." Well, apart from everything, that is.

Limping closer, House finally settled on the chair in front of her desk. "Nothing. Maybe it's the same nothing that has Wilson brooding for the last couple of days?"

"Huh?"

Tapping his fingers on Cuddy's desk in an unconscious melody, House frowned. There were deep shadows under her eyes that even the make-up hadn't been able to cover completely. "What's wrong?" House repeated, more gently this time.

Cuddy just shook her head. "Nothing." At House's snort, she added resigned, "Nothing you – or I – can do anything about anyway. And what's wrong with Wilson?"

"Nice try to change the topic." Watching her closely, House finally nodded. He'd allow her to get away with it for now. He'd just have to find other ways to figure out what was bothering her so much that it caused sleepless nights. "And I'll even pretend it worked."

A small smile playing around her lips, Cuddy nodded in relief, even though she knew it was nothing but a little delay.

"As for Wilson," House said, "He's been nothing but broody and grumpy for the last couple of days. And he's given me over 100 bucks already and I don't think he's even aware of it."

"I'll see what I can find out," Cuddy promised. "Don't spend that money just yet. Now go and do some of the things you're actually being paid for," she added more administrator-like than she'd been since that call from Giles. Even her previous conversation with the donor had been more show than anything else.

House stood up and cocked his head. "Feeling better?"

Smiling, Cuddy pointed towards her door. "Out!"

Bowing, House grinned. "Yes, mistress." And left without further ado.

--

So much for feeling better, Cuddy huffed. House's little intermezzo had lasted for the remainder of her work-day, but now it was fading quickly.

It had only been a few days since Giles told her that her daughter knew about her. Logically, Cuddy accepted that her daughter needed to contact her in her own time. But after all those years, her heart was filled with nothing but yearning for her child. Which, of course, kept her awake at night too. And there was only so many sleepless nights she could handle before her work would be starting to suffer.

Well, who was she kidding? Her work had started to suffer already.

No, this couldn't go on.

She needed a distraction. Something to make her stop thinking.

Throwing a calculating look at her bedroom door, she finally nodded. Quickly getting out of her work clothes, Cuddy took a long and hard look through her wardrobe before coming up with the right outfit.

Tonight she was going out.

Despite having to work tomorrow.

And she didn't plan on paying for more than her first drink.

Smiling approvingly, she removed one of the bolder outfits. One she would never wear at official functions.

--

House flipped through the channels, bored by every single program on that night. Taking another sip of his beer, he considered paying some attention to his piano. Naw. Calling Wilson was out of question too, he was just no fun nowadays. Cuddy. That might work. Grinning evilly, he pulled out his phone.

"Hello-o?" A very un-administrator like voice answered.

Eyebrows shooting towards his hairline, House asked, "Cuddy?"

"Yup."

"Well, well." House whistled. Boy, did Cuddy sound well on her way to being completely plastered. And judging by the background noise, she wasn't exactly sitting at home, hugging an empty bottle of wine. "Enjoying yourself?"

Cuddy nodded. Realising she actually needed to articulate her answer for some reason or other, she started to giggle at her mistake. "Yup."

"Mind if I join you?" Well, it would definitely be more interesting than all those brainless shows or repeats on his telly. And maybe, an annoying little voice said, he wanted to make sure she got home alright.

"The more the mar… the merrier." Cuddy's voice slurred a bit, but she managed to give him the name of the bar and directions without too much trouble. She might be drunk, but she hadn't reached the state where the night would be mystery come morning. Not yet anyway. Closing the phone with a smile, Cuddy turned back to her group of admirers.

--

Cuddy was slowly drawn back to consciousness by the insistent pounding of thousands of little hammers in her skull. Groaning, she opened her eyes – only to close them as fast as she could. Light seemed to increase the frequency of afore-mentioned hammers by at least ten-fold.

Eyes still closed, Cuddy became slowly more aware of her surroundings. Judging by the fur on her tongue, she was going to die of thirst if the little men with the hammers in her head failed to finish the job.

Moving slowly, trying to find a more comfortable position, she suddenly found herself cursing at gravity. It just wasn't fair. Not only was she first battered to death and about to die of thirst afterwards, no, she was also falling into an abyss.

Okay, the last bit might have been an overstatement. She'd already landed and was still breathing, after all. But why would she fall off her bed in the first place? It's not like it was small or anything. Wriggling her fingers, she found her right arm and hand to be working better than the left. One reason might be her body actually trapping her left arm underneath it, but in her current condition she wouldn't swear to it either.

Letting her hand roam around her, Cuddy finally furrowed her brows. That didn't feel like her bedroom.

Oh god!

That realisation was as good as a bucket of cold water and Cuddy shot up and opened her eyes. Once the world settled around her again, since when do we get earthquakes in New Jersey anyway, she slowly took in her surrounding.

And sighed in relief.

She was at home. Okay, she hadn't made it to her bedroom. But the couch didn't look that uncomfortable either. Despite her neck arguing against that latest statement quite vigorously.

Even better, there was no unknown – or known, for that matter – man in close proximity. Or clothes lying about.

No cane either.

Besides, looks like she was still fully clothed.

Wrinkling her nose at her, well, wrinkled clothes, Cuddy carefully made her way into the kitchen. She really needed some water. Once her thirst was quenched, she walked towards her bathroom. Thankfully she knew her house by heart, so she didn't need to open her eyes more than a tiny bit. A fact her head was utterly grateful for. That and the promise of Tylenol from the medical cabinet in the bathroom.

Rolling her neck, carefully, to get rid of some of the kinks coming from sleeping on her couch, Cuddy started to strip as soon as she reached the bathroom. Almost blindly grabbing the Tylenol, Cuddy swallowed it dry and quickly got rid of the excuse for a skirt she'd been wearing last night. Throwing it vaguely in the direction of her laundry basket, or at least into close proximity of her just as skinny top, Cuddy lifted the toilet lid to give her bladder the relief it had been begging for ever since she had woken up.

Sighing, her hands moved to her hips to pull her panties down.

Only to find them missing.

* * *

_A/N: Ops. shakes head How did that happen? _

_Anyway, I hope you liked it! Thanks for all the reviews again, Muse really, really loves them! Well, me too. A special thanks goes to Mistress of the Knight for beta-reading this chapter. Oh, and I'll be away for most of next week and I don't know if I'll have any internet access. So you'll probably have to wait a week for the next update..._


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

For once, House enjoyed waking up.

In fact, he was smiling even before he opened his eyes for the first time. As he reached over for his first dose of Vicodin, his hand came in contact with the very object responsible for the afore-mentioned smile.

Cuddy's lace panties.

The smile never leaving his face, House headed for his bathroom to get ready for a day full of fun.

With Cuddy.

Because he was pretty sure her memory would be rudimentary at best.

But as he was rather adept at multitasking, especially when it came to manipulating or playing with several people at once, he even went so far as searching through the deepest recesses of his underwear drawer, finally coming up with an atrocity he'd never even considered wearing. Holding the offending boxers between the tips of his fingers away from him, he took another look.

They'd been buried for at least five years after all. If anything, they'd gotten even uglier with time. But they were clean, the material was comfy and - after a quick reassuring look in the mirror - indeed ass-hugging. Which could never hurt. But, most importantly, he had a session with a physiotherapist that still wasn't talking to him later today. Oh, he knew she'd calmed down and was simply leaving him out to dry deliberately. It was an action he highly approved of. Or he would, if he wasn't the one doing the drying.

Luckily he was absolutely certain that his secret weapon would have Buffy talking to him by the end of the day.

--

Cuddy stormed into the hospital, unaware of all the people literally jumping out of her way. In fact, if you squinted your eyes far enough, tilted your head at the right angle at the right time and used the sunlight and the light-breaking properties of the glass walls just right, you'd be able to see the smoke coming from her ears.

Today simply wasn't going to be her day. Not only had she been missing certain parts of her underwear this morning, but she had also found her bed distinctly rumpled. Although she had made it the previous morning and she most certainly hadn't woken up in it.

Which, as in woken up, she'd obviously done on her couch. Her clothes might have been in disarray, but that was to be expected after a rough night on the couch. Right? Besides, it made perfect sense for her to be covered by a blanked from a cupboard in her hallway. After all, it was only logical that she'd go and fetch a blanket if she was cold. Even if the cupboard was marginally closer to her bed than to her couch.

The problem was she couldn't really remember all of last night. Well, she knew she had been drinking at a nice, cultivated bar with nice and civilised men. At some point she had thought calling House was a great idea. Because, really, civilised went only that far when you're burdened with a friend like House. Naturally he'd magically turned up at her side only a little while later. They had drunk together for quite some time and generally enjoyed themselves.

That's when the gaps started to appear in her memory.

She didn't remember how she got home. Yet she was pretty sure House had come into the house with her.

There was also the image of them slowly dancing in her living room. And the hallway. Though she wasn't sure if it was a real memory or more of a dream.

Then again, missing panties sounded very much like him. At least, with him being present, she knew he was the only one who could have anything to do with it. Otherwise she'd never had drunk as much as she had, knowing he was way too possessive to let her wander off with anyone else in her drunken state. Which, in a strange way, was kind of reassuring as well.

Now, if she could only remember if something had actually happened between them! It wasn't like it would be the first time, but remembering their few encounters during her time at medical school she'd actually be sorry to not remember the details. Well, if there were any details in the first place, of course.

Cuddy sighed deeply. Not knowing really was frustrating.

It wasn't like she could ask House. Well, she could. It was the answer she couldn't trust. In other words, his answer would most likely be yes. In fact, it would be detailed enough to probably make her blush.

Her body wasn't really talking to her either. Or maybe …Nope, scratch that, her hangover was _definitely_ masking any kind of signal she'd normally get from her body after, well, after a good work-out.

Damn it!

And as if that wasn't enough, she was already five minutes late for a two-hour long torture session with the Finance Department. On only one cup of instant coffee. As, naturally, nobody had bothered to switch on her alarm clock last night. Or her automatic coffee machine.

--

A little while later and in another part of the hospital, Buffy was in a similar mood as Cuddy. Or, for a lack of a better word, she was plainly and simply grumpy.

She was tired, the demon and vampire population didn't seem to cooperate anymore, and she appeared to pick up more injuries lately. Or, rather, she seemed to be more sensitive to them. Which, inevitably, sucked.

Furthermore, with Allison being way too good in spotting even the tiniest bruise, Buffy had to get up earlier to cover up any visible signs of them. Or be confronted with Allison's, albeit careful, probing into her injuries' origin. She'd already tried to sensitise Buffy towards domestic violence and Buffy was pretty sure Allison thought something like that to be the reason for her injuries. As if getting up early wasn't enough, Buffy, given her work, also managed to jostle her injuries several times a day. Which wasn't very pleasant. Naturally it caused major pout-age on her side.

Unfortunately, her co-workers teased her about her grouchiness of late - and even started to compare her to House. Or rather implied that working _with_, well, _on_ him was rubbing off on her. Just today, Kamil had pointed out that it must be a two-way thing as he'd just passed a very happy House.

It just wasn't fair, Buffy thought.

She'd have no choice but to end House's good mood when they had another physiotherapy session later today. Maybe throw him some disapproving glances or something. Then again, disapproving glances alone would probably do nothing but amuse him. Maybe she should stare him down. Grunt a bit. Stand in front of the telly. This train of thoughts actually brought the first smile of the day onto her face.

Maybe it wasn't going to be such a bad day after all.

--

Unfortunately for Buffy, somewhere ... anywhere really, as the correct location was hard to pin-point in that place in-between planes, dimensions and realities... a minor god in training who happened to be bored was, more or less accidentally, tuning into Buffy's thoughts at that exact time.

And grinning mischievously.

This was way better than studying.

--

Unaware of Buffy's dark thoughts, which, incidentally, he'd probably very much approve of, House barely prevented himself from whistling on his way to Cuddy's office. His in-built Cuddy radar told him she'd just be back from the Finance Department and be in a very dark mood. Which was great.

Upon the protests of Cuddy's secretary, House threw her a quick look and shook his head sadly. "Boob-job, cleavage revealing clothes and I just might listen to you." Stopping at Cuddy's door, House waved his hand. "Well, not listening as I'd be too busy looking, but I'd stop and pretend."

Brushing off the protests coming from behind his back, House opened the door and casually stro … limped into Cuddy's office. "Headache?" House asked sweetly, grinning at the form slumped behind the desk.

"Go away." Cuddy didn't even raise her head. Being all administrator-y for the last couple of hours had drained whatever energy she'd had left. "You're behind in your clinic hours."

Chuckling soundlessly, House leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Good guess. Especially as I'm always behind."

Literally jumping up, Cuddy turned and looked at him in shock. How had he come that close without her noticing?

Still grinning, House walked to her couch and made himself comfortable. Then he put on his favourite 'I'm in shock' expression. "Oh my, you wouldn't happen to have gone and got yourself drunk last night? In the middle of the week at that!"

Knowing from experience it would only hurt, Cuddy stopped herself from rolling her eyes at him. Instead she simply started her computer. "Very funny."

Leaning his head to one side, House watched her closely. And started to smile when Cuddy's skin colour changed to a suspicious shade of red. He loved it when she reacted to him just watching her. Judging by the tense expression on her face, he also knew what she was thinking. Leaning back, he crossed his arms in front of him and just enjoyed the show.

Cuddy was fuming. How dare he walk in like that, looking like he hadn't been drinking all night and was actually enjoying himself? The bastard probably didn't even have a blackout. At least bits and pieces of last night were starting to float around her brain now. Then again, they stubbornly refused to answer the most important question. Had they … or had they not?

Always proud of his timing, House choose that moment to interrupt her thoughts. "Reliving last night?"

"Shut up," Cuddy pouted. "It's all your fault, anyway."

His eyebrows shot up his forehead. Shaking is head slightly, House started to twirl his cane. "I didn't get you a single drink."

Smiling at that, she remembered this much at last, Cuddy found herself agreeing. "No, you didn't. But you didn't decline the offered drinks either."

"Hey, who am I to stop the important-my-ass lawyers from spending their earned-by-deception money?"

Snorting, Cuddy opened her word processor. "At least they were paying."

"They were trying to get into your panties," House countered nonchalantly.

Shrugging, Cuddy nodded. "I know. But they'd never have been successful anyway."

"Yeah?" House asked, leaning forward in anticipation. "Then where are your panties from last night?"

Eyes opening dangerously wide, Cuddy was momentarily speechless. At least she knew where they were now. Finally having regained her composure, Cuddy shrugged her shoulders and looked at him innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cuddy, Cuddy, Cuddy." House shook his finger at her with a big grin firmly plastered on his face. "If the hospital board knew that you're openly lying to a hospital employee…"

Rolling her eyes, headache or not, Cuddy pointed to her door and told him half-heartedly to leave. "Clinic. Now."

"You weren't that hostile last night," House replied in mock hurt, wiping an imaginary tear from his cheek.

"OUT!" Cuddy replied forcefully, yet couldn't stop herself from smiling.

Grinning right back, House tucked his hand into his jeans pocket as if he was looking for something and, after shuffling around for a bit, he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Worse, upon withdrawing his hand Cuddy could see a very familiar looking, midnight blue coloured, piece of lace fabric poking out of the pocket.

Blushing once more, Cuddy just threw her hands up in frustration. One day, once her hair decided to become grey, she was going to name the first grey coloured ones House.

Just before plucking them out.

--

As Cuddy had ordered him to, House went straight to the open clinic once he'd left her office.

He even attended to three patients before getting comfortable in one of the examination rooms, watching his portable telly He'd go and look for another couple of patients in an hour or so.

At the end of his chosen show he even had to turn up the volume as there seemed to be quite a few police sirens outside the hospital. If he'd been with a patient, then he'd have gone to investigate of course. Now he'd just tap into the hospital grapevine to find out what had been going on. With his show finally finished, House sighed and put the telly out of sight.

But regretted it only a few minutes later while listening to a cockroach dressed up as a human. Must have been watching Men in Black too often and gotten strange ideas from that. Luckily he'd stolen a lollipop from the nurse's desk so he could concentrate on the, admittedly artificial, flavour in order to avoid death by stupidity. That, and the cockroach had at least chosen a well-built female skin. So he enjoyed the view, his lollipop, and calculated the time he could write off from his clinic duty for enduring this patient.

Another patient later and House was ready for another break. Besides General Hospital was about to start and he wasn't going to sacrifice it for some idiots lacking common sense. And those actually being taken ill by none of their fault would be seen to by the other doctors anyway.

Snatching another lollipop from the nurse's desk while skilfully avoiding nurse Brenda's gaze, House was stopped from sneaking away by a commotion near the clinic entrance.

"I'm fine! Really!" An all too well known voice protested.

Smiling, House leaned on the desk, waiting for his favourite physiotherapist to appear. When she did, Buffy was flanked by a security guard and a flustered looking police officer.

"Ma'am, we're really grateful for your help. But you're injured and need to be checked out," the police woman tried to argue with Buffy.

"Fine," Buffy said, rolling her eyes. "Be grateful all you want. But I've got a patient waiting. See you later." Turning away from the woman, Buffy went to leave and run straight into the security officer. "Ouch." By now Buffy was in full pout mode. So much for her day finally getting better.

House, naturally wanting to know what all the ruckus was about, cocked an eyebrow. "Did she steal the last toilet roll or something?"

"Oh, look! My patient!" Buffy quipped – only to be rudely ignored. House, watching her from the side, expected her to stomp her foot any minute now. This was way better than General Hospital!

"Nope." The security guy shook his head in answer to House's previous question, sounding rather impressed. "She stopped a group of thugs from robbing an elderly lady who'd unfortunately tried to take a short-cut through one of the darker corners of the underground car park."

Furrowing his brows, House took a closer look at Buffy. Yes, she looked a little bit dishevelled but that was about it. "She did?"

"Yes," the police officer explained. "Turns out they've been terrorising the area for quite some time. Though any witnesses were too scared to tell us anything useful so far. Yet Miss Summers managed to keep them at bay until hospital security arrived. Thanks to the CCTV footage we've hopefully got enough evidence to bring them to court."

"She's standing right in front of you, you know," Buffy said annoyed, pout still firmly in place. The stupid CCTV system was the reason she'd been careful to not show uber-human skill and was now sporting a few more bruises than this morning. "And she's fine. No need to go all doctor-y on her."

Tilting his head to one side, House pointed to her side. "Interesting top you're wearing. The bloody look clearly adds to its charm," he commented dryly.

"Huh?" Buffy looked at him in confusion. Upon following his pointing finger, she looked down her left side and, after seeing the fresh blood stains, groaned. "I just bought it last week! Do you know how long it took me to find the perfect colour?" Buffy complained, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

This just wasn't fair!

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the little delay. But it's a slightly longer chapter. And the next one is written but still needs editing and betaing. Still, it's going to be a two chapter week! Well, if you don't mind, that is. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Especially to Deritine and Califaction for their very long and detailed reviews!_


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Everyone else just looked at her in confusion. She was bleeding and all she cared about was her top?

Rolling her eyes at their reaction, Buffy thought she might just as well use it to her advantage. "Well, thanks for the pointing out thing. I'll just go and change. See ya later!"

Lifting his cane, effectively blocking Buffy's path, House shook his head, smirking. "Nice try- "

"Thanks," Buffy grumbled moodily.

"-But that needs to be looked at."

She raised her chin in an obvious challenge. "Since when have you become Mr All Caring?"

Shrugging his shoulders, House quipped. "Evil Nurse Brenda probably spiked the lollipops."

Looking between House and Brenda, who was watching with interest from the other side of the nurse's desk, Buffy snickered and was soon joined by Brenda. Winking at Buffy, Brenda motioned towards the now empty pot of lollipops and looked sternly at House, "It's your own fault."

Poking out his tongue at the still smirking nurse, House turned to the police and security officers standing behind Buffy, his face straight once more. "I'll take a look and make sure she's alright."

The police woman nodded and turned back to Buffy. "Thank you. Miss Summers, I'll contact you to go over your statement later."

"Yeah. Great," Buffy grumbled. "I'm so looking forward to it."

Snorting, House shook his head at her antics. Here she was, bleeding, but all she cared about was her torn top. In fact, seeing only signs of nothing more than slight discomfort was the only reason he hadn't whisked her away to the ER already. Instead he decided to pass her off as a clinic patient. That way he might have a chance to get behind her help-the-helpless behaviour, even taunt her a bit about it – without getting her to stop talking to him again, though. That would just be boring. And, even better, he could write it off as clinic duty too.

Once the two law enforcement officers left, House turned to Brenda and took an empty patient's form. "Dr House taking patient Summers to examination room one."

Grinning, he turned and gently took Buffy's arm before she could make another run for the exit. Then, seeing Dr Smith of the boring name coming out of examination room three with his patient in tow, he turned to Brenda again. "Make that room three. Send Smith to one. He won't notice the difference anyway."

Not waiting for a reply House steered Buffy towards the afore-mentioned room and closed the door behind him.

As soon as they were inside, his cheerful mask slipped for a second and he looked intrigued at the small woman in front of him. She fought off a _group_ of thugs? She _had_ to have more than a scratch. Even if she didn't look too bad. Or seem to be in shock. Which was interesting in itself and needed his attention.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy groaned. And whined, "Come on. Not you too! I'm _really_ fine."

"Just remind me of just where exactly you got your medical degree from?" House snarled.

Buffy crossed her arms in front of her chest and furrowed her eyebrows. "No need to get all snappy on me."

Ignoring her comment, he pointed to her top. "Strip."

"Pervert," Buffy replied without batting an eyelid.

"Thanks," House said, smirking lopsidedly. "It's always great to feel appreciated."

Buffy only growled at that, giving him one of her better death glares.

Ignoring her I-wish-you'd-drop-dead glare, House used his cane to draw a rolling stool closer before sitting down on it. "You're dripping onto the floor," he said casually, pointing to the area around her feet.

Buffy huffed, "I'm not!" Nevertheless she looked down and fair enough, there were a few drops on the otherwise immaculate floor next to her. Scowling at House, she added, "Just point me to the band-aids. You turn around and close your eyes while I patch myself up and everyone will be happy."

House shook his head. "Can't have Cuddy steal my cable privileges for letting you bleed to death."

"Hello-o! I've done the bleeding to death thing. Trust me, this doesn't even come close to it," Buffy grumbled but gave up on staring at him from her standing position. There was a perfectly fine examination table behind her after all and, given her missing out in the growth department, sitting on said examination table would give her an even higher vantage point. Yep. She wasn't sitting down because her arm and side started to throb, now that the adrenalin rush was long gone. She was sitting down because it gave her an advantage over House.

House being House ignored her change in position but went straight for the kill. "You bled out before?" he asked in astonishment.

"Huh?" Buffy asked confused, not expecting him to home in on that little absent minded remark. Well, maybe not so little. Oops.

"What? You not only give your blood some time off but your brain's suddenly gone on holiday too?" House challenged while rolling himself closer to Buffy.

"Thanks," Buffy said smugly, swinging her legs back and forth.

Now it was House's turn to look confused.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy clarified, "You just admitted I have a brain while most of your descriptions of people have a brainless hidden somewhere."

House grinned and nodded in approval. Putting his stool on its highest setting, he looked Buffy straight in the eyes while carefully lifting her blood stained arm. "Back to my original question. You bled out before?"

Letting him probe and prod her arm and side, Buffy shook her head. "Sure. And now I'm sitting here all dead and blood-less, dripping tomato sauce all over you."

"Ah, got to love someone who appreciates the art of sarcasm." Smirking, House looked up from examining her injuries. Becoming serious again, he added, "Now lose your top. You've got a cut running across your arm onto your side and back that needs stitching in some places. Looks like it comes from a single slash?"

"Idiots," Buffy grumbled darkly. "Playing with knives when they should be home, waiting for their next nappy change."

Stopping his probing, the cut seemed to have finally stopped bleeding on its own, House looked at her strangely. "Just how old were they? And how many?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders and winced when the movement pulled on the cut House had just been looking at. "Dunno. I was kinda too busy avoiding knives and knuckle rings to count."

Eyes opening comically wide, House asked, "Knuckle rings?"

He shook his head in disbelief. Not only did she interrupt a little gang from robbing somebody instead of minding her own business, no, she had to go and fight them off. Without weapons. While they were obviously armed. Who in their right mind would do that? He should stitch her up and send her straight to the psychiatry ward. Yeah. Or at least go and check both her blood and her apartment for any toxins or drugs.

Watching his inner monologue with some sort of amusement, Buffy didn't protest as he started unbuttoning her blouse and helped her out of it. Once the bloody garment was carelessly thrown aside, he carefully inspected every inch of her torso for further injuries. Cursing when he found a couple of bruises on her ribs and back that clearly came from the use of the knuckle rings she'd mentioned earlier, he rolled his chair to one of the cupboards and got two instant cold packs out.

"Talkative much?" Buffy finally interrupted his silent ramblings.

Huffing loudly, House stared at her darkly before pointing to the head part of her examination table. "Lie down onto your side."

Poking her tongue out at him, Buffy nevertheless complied. House moved her slightly until he was satisfied before simply taping the cold packs over the fresh bruises. House kept her in place even though Buffy jumped at the sudden coldness. "Stay still."

"Yes, your grumpiness," Buffy drawled out and smirked knowingly when she saw the side of his mouth twitch.

"Smart-ass." Rolling himself to another cupboard, House got everything he'd need to stitch Buffy up.

"Wow. Two compliments in half an hour? Are you ill or something?" Buffy asked innocently.

Shrugging his shoulders, House brought everything over. "I've got tons of needles. I'd say that puts things into perspective again."

Eyes opening wide, Buffy watched his movements with trepidation. And showed every intention of getting up again. "But I'm allergic to needles!"

Pushing her down again, House looked at her incredulously. "You're afraid-"

"Allergic!" Buffy interrupted quickly.

"_Allergic_ of needles but fight against a whole bunch of thugs with knives?"

"Well," Buffy said while maintaining a perfect pout, "Knives aren't all that pointy. And they are big. Plenty of chances to see and avoid them. Needles, on the other hand, are sneaky and really pointy and pure evil."

"Fine. I'll go and get a bunch of knives to make the holes used to put the thread through in order to close your cut," House suggested without batting an eyelash.

"Meany."

"Wimp."

"Bah." Poking out her tongue at him again, Buffy screwed high eyes close tightly. "Fine. Have fun. Just hurry cause I sure as hell don't have all day."

"I'm just waiting for the local anaesthetic to kick in," House replied smugly.

Buffy frowned. She hadn't even felt it going in. And House knew it.

Bah.

--

Wilson looked around the cafeteria when he entered it for an early lunch. House was busy in the open clinic so he hoped for a quiet and uninterrupted meal. One that didn't consist at least partly of Buffy this, Buffy that. Sure, he'd been impressed with her muffin stunt several weeks ago. But that had been before he knew who she really was.

Once his tray was filled with food he took another look around and, upon seeing Dr Marmine sitting alone in the far corner, decided on a change of plans.

"Hi, do you mind me sitting here?" Wilson asked while putting his tray down already.

His thoughts interrupted, Dr Marmine was confused for a moment. Then, upon realising just who was standing there, he nodded cautiously. "Sure, go ahead."

They ate in silence, each of them watching the other, wondering what was going on in their respective heads.

Finally, after all the food was gone, Dr Marmine asked, "Is there anything you wanted to talk to me about?"

Sighing deeply, Wilson finally nodded. "Yes. I, well, I couldn't avoid noticing that you seemed to have some problems with Buffy Summers."

"Okay," Dr Marmine said cautiously. He didn't really know what to make of this. Marmine knew Wilson was House's best friend, or at least something close to it. And, for whatever reason, House obviously liked Summers. So what was Wilson doing here? Trying to figure out why he didn't like her?

"May I ask why?" Wilson asked and confirmed Marmine's suspicion. However, seeing the indecision in his co-worker, Wilson was quick to explain himself. "It's just that I've come across her before. And that didn't end well."

Now Marmine was perking up. Maybe there was a possibility to get rid of her now that his plan hadn't worked out? Putting on his most sympathetic face, Wilson seemed a bit naïve at times after all, Marmine asked compassionately, "What happened?"

"Long story short, after a, albeit estranged, cousin of mine died several years ago, her daughter decided to move to California for college. That's where she got involved with Buffy and her friends. She stopped any contact with her family and when they tried to find out why, Buffy and her friends threatened them. Apparently Buffy had been arrested several times for serious offences already. My cousin's husband couldn't do anything but helplessly watch as the poor child was drawn into Buffy's troubled world. She was shot to death a couple of years later," Wilson explained quietly. Yes, he had lost contact with his cousin's family after her death. But when he was finally ready to rectify it a few years later, it was already too late. All his cousin's husband could do was tell him of the girl's death and who was responsible.

"That's horrible!" Dr Marmine exclaimed. And might just work to his advantage, he added silently. "In fact, I didn't know until it was too late, but Miss Summers was involved with my partner's brother. He was killed before I had a chance to even meet him and my partner and her family were obviously very distressed by this. They weren't even informed until after he was buried so they couldn't make any objections." Stupid kid, running in front of a car, hence robbing him of any brownie points bringing Mark back to the States might have given him.

"I'm sorry to hear this," Wilson said sympathetically. Who was this girl that had people in close proximity dropping dead around her?

Dr Marmine nodded. "Thank you." Sighing theatrically, he added, "I guess we need to keep a close eye on her to prevent any further tragedies."

"Yes," Wilson agreed.

Scrutinising Wilson, Marmine added calculating, "Maybe you should warn Dr House? He seemed to have taken a liking to Miss Summers but he'd never listen to me. You, on the other hand, are his friend."

Wilson sighed. As much as it made sense, telling House what to do was never going to work. He had to think of another way to get his point across. It had to be done. He just couldn't see an alternative to it. So he nodded at Dr Marmine and left the cafeteria.

--

Meanwhile, Cuddy was in her office, looking up at hearing a commotion in the open clinic. Sighing, she figured it meant House was actually doing as she'd asked him to. But as long as nobody came running into her office, she'd just ignore it. Just like she'd ignored the police sirens that had to have been close by earlier today.

She'd barely opened a new file when she was interrupted by knock on her door and it was opened by her secretary. "Dr Cuddy, Jim Michaels from security would like to have a word with you."

What did House do now? Rubbing her temples, she nodded and waited for him to enter.

Taking the offered seat, Jim Michaels smiled reassuringly at Cuddy. He'd been working for the hospital just as long as she had and over time they'd become acquainted. Mainly due to something Dr House had done. "It's not Dr House."

Eyebrows shooting up, Cuddy asked, "It isn't?"

Shaking his head, he nevertheless became serious again. "No. But there's been an incident in the underground car park. An old lady thought she'd be able to take a short-cut to the hospital entrance but managed to take a wrong turn. According to Murphy's law she immediately run into a group of thugs who tried to rob her."

"Oh my god! Was she injured?" Cuddy interrupted him quickly. "Wait, is that why I heard all those police sirens before?"

Jim nodded. "No, she wasn't injured. Well, she's in shock, but luckily someone else came by to help her. And yes, we called the police as soon as the CCTV system picked up on the fight."

"Fight? What fight?" Cuddy asked confused. Surely he didn't meant the old lady fighting the thugs?

"One of your employees stumbled over the group. She fought them off until we could reach her," he explained.

"Who?"

Smiling broadly, Jim asked, "Do you happen to know a Buffy Summers?"

Upon hearing that name, Cuddy let her head thud heavily onto her desk. Why wasn't she surprised by this? House wouldn't just bond with anyone. Still, fighting off a group of thugs? Buffy? She was so … small!

"I'll take that as a yes," Jim observed. Of course, after seeing her interact with House he figured Cuddy would at least be aware of her. One way or another.

Cuddy sighed and nodded. "Is she hurt?"

During the next few minutes Jim brought her up to date on what had happened from the moment the alarm had been raised until he'd watch House take a reluctant Buffy into an examination room.

Thanking him, Cuddy followed him out her office and headed for the open clinic. Hoping it would still be standing and she'd find the two of them doing nothing worse than watching General Hospital.

Well, she certainly wouldn't have needed Jim to tell her which room they were in. She could hear their bitching quite easily. Cuddy entered without knocking, just in time to hear Buffy whine, "Are you done yet?"

"Nope," House replied cheerily.

Cuddy couldn't help herself but shake her head. Children.

"Nope?" Buffy asks incredulously before twisting her body and having a closer look herself. "That looks all stitched up to me. Unnecessarily stitched up, I might add."

Raising her eyebrows in alarm, Cuddy quickly walked closer to have look herself. "Stitches?"

"Just teeny, tiny ones," House said reassuringly. "And I'd say they are beautiful, don't you think, Cuddles?"

Cuddy sighed. "House." Only he would make fun while stitching up what clearly looked like knife wounds.

"Cuddles," House replied with a knowing smirk. "Don't worry. Buffy is fine. Even if she prefers knives to needles."

This time both Cuddy and Buffy rolled their eyes at him. Even if he couldn't see Buffy's. Making sure House had put down his torture instruments for good, Buffy got ready to jump off of the examination table.

"Wait." Pushing her down again, House removes the ice-pack from her back before turning her onto her back. "I'm not done yet."

"But-" Buffy started, confused and shared a look with Cuddy who just shrugged her shoulders.

"I just need to check out the parasite."

* * *

_A/N: Muhahahahahahaha! (That was Muse. I'm totally innocent. Honestly!) So, what do you think about the newest revelations…? _

_Anyway, thanks again to all those who reviewed! You always make my day! A special thanks goes to my beta Mistress of the Knight who saved House from becoming too nice. Now that would be just wrong, wouldn't it?_


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Parasite?" Buffy cried out in alarm, quickly thinking of who she fought with in the recent past. Could she have caught something from a demon? Then again, how would House know about it? What had The Powers That Be done this time?

"Easy!" Cuddy interrupted her increasingly panicked thoughts soothingly, guessing parasite meant a complete different thing to Buffy than it did to House. Well, to be honest, it meant a completely different thing to anyone _but_ House. "It's House, remember?"

Feeling Buffy calm down under her hand, Cuddy added curiously, "You're pregnant?"

"Huh?" Okay, now Buffy was really confused. First she had a parasite and now she was pregnant?

Smiling, Cuddy explained, "House's preferred way of talking about babies is calling them parasites."

"Oh, okay," Buffy said. Then the meaning of said comment hit her. "Wait! I'm _not_ pregnant!"

"Sure you are," House said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not," Buffy insisted.

House pulled a funny face at her. "Are."

"Not," Buffy replied, mimicking his face pulling antics.

Having heard enough, Cuddy held up her hand. "Stop!" Ignoring House who was playing with his cane, Cuddy turned to Buffy. "When was your last period?"

Staring at House as if to dare him to make any inappropriate comments, Buffy thought back. "A few weeks ago? It's never been very regular to start with."

In fact, Giles had once approached this subject. Just watching him blush furiously and stutter around the topic had made the talk funny rather than embarrassing as she had imagined it would be. Still, among all the glasses cleaning and sighing Giles had managed to tell her that it was common for the Slayer to experience irregular periods. Firstly, they, as hard as it may sound, didn't exist to breed but to fight. Secondly, by infusing a demon essence into a human girl they had obviously messed with her physiology and caused all kinds of side effects.

"Define 'a few'," House asked while getting the ultrasound machine ready. It was the reason he'd changed examination rooms in the first place, as he'd seen Dr Smith leave it together with a clearly pregnant woman. As if that wasn't enough indication, the picture the dark woman was stupidly grinning at told him of the presence of the portable ultrasound machine without a doubt.

Furrowing her brows in thought, Buffy finally said, "Three, maybe four." Nodding to herself, she tried to get up again. "Which means I can't be pregnant and you're wrong."

"Stay down," House all but ordered and at least managed to have Buffy stop mid-motion. "Bleeding is quite common in early pregnancy."

Letting herself fall down with a thud, Buffy said, "It is? That really sucks."

"The wonders of human physiology at work," House commented flippantly.

"Whatever." Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Buffy challenged House, "It still doesn't mean I'm pregnant."

"You are."

"Not."

"Are."

"Stop!" Cuddy said forcefully before House could reply. "We've been through this before and it isn't any funnier the second time around."

"I think it is," House replied immediately and his smirk widened when Buffy agreed with him.

Throwing her hands in the air in exasperation, Cuddy huffed, "Children." Looking back at Buffy, she asked much gentler, "Do you sleep more than usual?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders and said quickly, "Just catching up with years of way too short nights."

House snorted and grinned smugly at Buffy. Even though he didn't utter a single word, his posture could clearly be read as 'Told you so!'.

"Mood swings?" Cuddy continued – and stared House down when he raised his hand, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "_Unjustified_ mood swings?"

"My fiancé just died. That should qualify for a few mood swings, shouldn't it?" Buffy said rather annoyed. "And no, I'm not puking my guts out either."

"How about your eating habits?" House asked, ignoring the death glare coming from Buffy.

That threw Buffy off. "What do you mean by eating habits? What's wrong with them?" Grinning triumphantly after she thought on it, she added, "They haven't changed at all."

"You mean you always eat like you've got an extended family hiding in there?" House asked rather astonished while motioning towards her belly.

That allowed for only one reply - Buffy went into full pout mode. "Just so you know, I've got a fast metabolism. There's no need to mock me because of it."

Tapping his chin thoughtfully, House carefully prodded her belly. "Or you really _have_ got a parasite in there. Of the tapeworm kind."

"Eww!" Buffy exclaimed disgusted, scrunching up her face as well. "No. Definitely no tapeworm in there."

Shrugging his shoulders, House asked, "What about tender-"

"House!" Cuddy barked. Then, motioning towards the ultrasound, she continued in a normal voice, "Do your ultrasound."

Now it was Buffy's turn to protest – only to be interrupted by Cuddy as well. "I'm sorry. It's simply fastest to let him do the ultrasound to prove him right or wrong."

"Right!"

"Wrong!"

House and Buffy shouted simultaneously.

Shaking her head in defeat, Cuddy sighed deeply, murmuring more to herself than anyone else. "_Why_ did I get up this morning again?"

Chuckling at Cuddy, House got the ultrasound gel from the cart, opening the bottle.

"Don't you need to warm this up?" Buffy complained moodily, causing Cuddy to start muttering again.

"Nope," House said lightly. "It's a common misconception that it's cold when it is in fact nice and warm."

"And slimy," Buffy added. Her frown deepened even more upon his smirk and she stared at him suspiciously. "Uh huh. And I can see from here that it's cold."

Raising his eyebrows, House looked from Buffy to the bottle in his hand and back. "Really? That's a new one. Temperature sensing eyes." And, without further ado, he squirted a generous amount onto Buffy's still exposed belly. Just because he could and Buffy glared so nice and accusingly at him, he added some more.

"Hey! That is _so_ not of the warm!" Buffy exclaimed. Pouting again, she grumbled, "Poor kid. Catching his first cold from the cruel Dr Evil."

"Are you sure you're not related?" Cuddy finally asked in irritation, looking accusingly between the two.

While House only chuckled and looked rather pleased with himself, Buffy opened her eyes unnaturally wide in shock. "No. NO!" she blurted out. "No relation between us. Nope. Nothing. We're just related to our relatives. Yep. That's it," Buffy continued, nodding vigorously – only to have both House and Cuddy stare at her with growing interest. Especially House. Wincing, Buffy looked sheepishly at Cuddy, "Too much?"

Holding her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart, Cuddy nodded, sporting a wide smile. "Slightly."

"Oh," was all Buffy said in reply.

House watched them with interest and filed Buffy's reply away for later when he had time to think about it. Right now he had to prove himself right. Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he said cheerfully, "Okay, kiddies. Let's check out the parasite."

The monitor turned so only he could see it, House moved the probe across Buffy's belly. The longer he moved it around, the more tense Buffy became. What if she really was pregnant? What would she do without Mark? What-

Cuddy chose that moment to interrupt Buffy's musings after having felt her becoming more tense with every passing minute. Rubbing Buffy's shoulder reassuringly, she said, "House! Mind sharing with the class?"

Grinning smugly, he was about to decline when he caught sight of Buffy's anxious expression. Sighing theatrically, making sure Cuddy knew just what big a sacrifice he was making by complying with her request, he turned the monitor for both Cuddy and Buffy to see. "Here's your spawn, snug as a bug in a rug."

"You're pregnant," Cuddy translated immediately, intensifying the soothing circles her hand made on Buffy's shoulder.

"Yep. Looks like the rugrat slept through mommy's beating up of the bad guys too," House added complacently.

"Oh," was all Buffy managed to say as a million thoughts assaulted her at once. Then House's last comment made it through and Buffy's eyes opened wide in shock once more. There had been a lot of beatings in the last couple of month. What if they did something to the baby House didn't pick up on? Panic threatening to take over, she helplessly watched from House to Cuddy.

Cuddy, guessing what Buffy was thinking about, well, about today's fight anyway, nodded towards the foetal heart monitor. Rolling his eyes, they could see the little heart beating just fine after all, House nevertheless complied. Placing it next to the probe he switched it on and seconds later the room was filled with the unmistakeable sound of rather quick heartbeats.

Smiling reassuringly, Cuddy looked at Buffy again. "That's your baby's heartbeat and it sounds just like it's supposed to."

"Really?" Buffy asked in a voice laced with both wonder and fear. "It's so fast."

Cuddy nodded. The sound suddenly hitting her full-force, bringing back memories she had suppressed for so long. Taking a deep breath, she tried to blink away the tears that rapidly threatened to fall. Last time she'd heard this sound coming from her own body she had lost the baby only a few days later. The one time before that, her baby had been stolen from her. At least now there was hope she'd finally meet her daughter again.

Watching the two women lost in their emotions, House just rolled his eyes. Hormones! Starting to move the wand again, but leaving the heart monitor attached to it, he went back to making sure everything was indeed alright. Then, shocking even himself, he searched for the best view and made a couple of print-outs for Buffy.

Finally having enough of this sentimentality, he spoke up again. "Judging by the size and developmental stage of the parasite I'd say you're about 12 weeks pregnant."

Cuddy's head snapped up at that assessment. Thinking back, she realised Buffy had only been with them for 10 weeks or so, although it felt much longer. In fact, House could have told Cuddy that it had only been 8 weeks since Buffy started at Princeton-Plainsboro, which only served to prove Cuddy's last thought. However, it also brought up another question. Just how close to her departure to Princeton-Plainsboro did her fiancé die?

"Buffy?" Cuddy asked cautiously.

Wiping away the single tear running down her cheek, Buffy shook her head and got off the table. She didn't want to, _couldn't_, talk right now. Walking to her discarded top, she ignored the blood-stains and put it back on. On auto-pilot she walked to the door only to be stopped by Cuddy's hand on her shoulder.

When she turned around, her face was all but expressionless.

Sighing, Cuddy gave her the print-outs she'd snatched from House. "Go home. Take time to think. I don't want you back here until Tuesday. Then we'll have a look at your stitches and go from there, okay?" Cuddy said gently. "And if you want to talk… " Cuddy added just before Buffy left the room, leaving the end hanging in the air. Buffy nodded and Cuddy thought she saw something like gratitude cross her features.

Once Buffy was gone, Cuddy closed the door again, leaning her forehead against it. What was it that made her want to protect Buffy from about everything she could think of? Oh god, was she projecting her anxiousness about meeting her daughter onto Buffy? Groaning, Cuddy pushed herself off the door and turned around.

Only to find herself staring directly into House's calculating eyes.

Straightening her already smooth skirt, she asked louder than she intended to, "What?"

House just continued to watch her. There was something else going on Cuddy wasn't talking about. She was _too_ caring. Okay, Buffy had just saved the hospital some bad publicity – something he'd have to investigate further as well – but that didn't explain just why Cuddy had been so sympathetic with her when he'd announced Buffy's pregnancy.

Somehow he couldn't imagine Cuddy miscarrying a couple of years ago was the sole reason for it. Cuddy seemed too surprised by her own reaction so he guessed he was missing something. He just had to find out what.

"Not sure yet," he finally answered honestly, shrugging his shoulders.

"House," Cuddy said annoyed. As her glaring at him didn't result in any more answers, she decided to let him be for now. Instead, she asked a question that had been bothering her for a while now. "When exactly did her fiancé die?" Cuddy didn't even bother asking him if he knew, she just assumed, correctly, of course, that he did.

"Shortly after giving Buffy his leaving present in form of the parasite," House replied, absently twirling his cane around his fingers. "Two weeks before she moved back to the States."

"Oh boy," was all Cuddy could reply to that.

--

Once she had left the examination room, Buffy let instinct guide her to her locker. Quickly changing into a spare blouse, discarding the cut and bloody one, Buffy gathered her stuff and left the hospital.

As soon as the air warm summer air hit her, she woke from her haze, feeling rather lost.

Finally she caught the strange glares a few passers-by sent her way and she realised that she was standing in the middle of the pavement, right in front of the open clinic entrance. Sighing, she ordered her feet to take her home and started to walk towards the park.

Buffy had no idea how long it took her or how she managed, but the next time she took a close look at her surrounding she found herself in her own living room. Walking straight to the mantel piece, she took the picture of her and Mark at their engagement party, staring at the genuine happy Buffy smiling back at her for a long time.

Eventually, a small smile started to play across her lips.

Bringing the picture close, she kissed the image of Mark softly.

"You're going to be a daddy."

* * *

_A/N: Wow! I must make sure to leave more cliffhangers! I loved all the reviews I've got because of that. LOL. I know you are eagerly waiting for the proper Buffy/Cuddy introduction – and we are almost there! So stay tuned for next chapter … and I wouldn't mind a little review or two ;). Oh, and thanks again to Mistress of the Knight for beta-reading this chapter!_


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Buffy was cooking up a storm while contemplating what to do next. Mark had been the one to introduce her to cooking without poisoning anyone and ever since his death, cooking had had a calming effect on her. Cooking and making fresh pasta, that is.

Especially now that she had so many decisions to make. Decisions that she should be making with Mark in the first place.

She was having a baby.

Buffy was still trying to wrap her head around that one. Yet she knew it to be true. She hadn't realised it at first, but when House switched on the foetal heart monitor it wasn't something she hadn't heard before. She just hadn't been able to place it before then.

Now that she really thought back Buffy realised it had started about a month ago. Just before falling asleep or waking up, she had started to hear a faint but quick 'bum-bum-bum-bum'. Today, just after she'd started cooking, it had hit her. It was the same sound she'd heard in the examination room. It was the heart-beat of her unborn baby.

To prove her theory, she concentrated, _really_ concentrated, on herself and eventually was able to make out the faint 'bum-bum-bum-bum' coming from her belly. Now that she consciously listened for it, she could tune in without much effort.

Which became more and more reassuring the longer Buffy thought about it.

Now she only had to deal with a million other things coming with it.

Like telling Dawn and everyone else.

And - oh god!

Realisation hitting hard, she picked up the phone and pressed one of the speed-dial buttons.

--

It was Friday night and Wilson was contemplating once more how to best approach the topic of Buffy Summers with House. Finally he cursed in annoyance and left his office. Thinking about it wasn't doing him any good. No, he'd get food, enough beer to get drunk and simply turn up on House's doorstep.

And that's what he did.

Now, looking at the scattered boxes of Chinese food on House's couch table, Wilson was sullenly looking at his beer bottle.

House, finally having enough of moody Wilson, nudged him with his foot. "You're making the food go off just by looking at it. I won't let that atrocity happen any longer. So spill."

"Hey," Wilson pouted. "I bought the food."

"So?" House asked unimpressed. "I'm the one providing the couch you're sitting on. Did you get married once more without telling me and your wife has already thrown you out again?"

"What?" Wilson asked completely confused.

House just shrugged his shoulders. "_What_ what? Serves you right for not inviting me to the wedding."

"House! I'm not married again!" Wilson exclaimed exaggerated. "This is about Buffy Summers, not me!"

House smirked. He never failed to get Wilson telling him what he wanted to hear. Independent of Wilson intending to do so or not. "Okay. Don't worry, I'll be your best man even though it won't work."

"I am not marrying her!" Wilson all but screamed. "She's too dangerous!"

Okay, _that_ was unexpected, House thought.

"Dangerous?" he asked in disbelieve. "Is she squeezing her real evil self into a 5'2'' petite suit before coming to work or something?"

Wilson jumped up, pacing in front of the couch. "That's not funny!"

Raising his eyebrows, House watched his friend in puzzlement. He really had no idea what Wilson was talking about. But it just increased the enigma called Buffy Summers. Because, in his experience, no matter how much rubbish people were talking about, there usually was a bit of truth hidden somewhere. Still, despite his pessimistic outlook on humankind in general, House just couldn't see Buffy as being evil.

Finally, House spoke up again, "So what evil things have you seen her commit?"

Stopping mid-motion, Wilson turned to House in confusion. "None," he finally admitted. "But I was told by-"

"Rubbish!" House interrupted unsympathetically. "Everybody lies."

"Cliff Marmine said something along the lines too," Wilson pouted, his arms crossed defensively.

"He's an idiot," House snarled.

"House," Wilson replied in a tired voice, having calmed down considerably. "He's not an idiot. Besides, last time I talked to him Miss Summers was nowhere to be found, leaving her co-workers to pick up her afternoon appointments."

"Cuddy sent her home," House explained half-heartedly, his attention distracted by the mud-wrestling match he'd found on the telly. "Marmine must have forgotten to mention it to you."

"Huh?" Sitting down with a thud, Wilson grabbed the remote control from House's lap and switched the telly off.

"Hey! I was watching that!"

"House."

"Wilson," House whined in his most annoying voice.

Sighing, Wilson switched the telly back on, but kept it muted. "Miss Summers," Wilson prompted again.

"Oh! Played Robin Hood. Helped the poor. Saved the hospital from bad publicity. The works," House said, his head leaning heavily to one side as he watched the match. The views were simply better that way.

"What?" If anything, Wilson was even more confused like before.

Rolling his eyes at his friend, House turned to Wilson. "Buffy prevented a robbery on hospital grounds and got stabbed for her efforts. I stitched her up, Cuddy came in being all thankful, took a look and sent her home."

"Robbery?"

Snatching the remote control – the next match was about to start and he wanted to actually listen in this time as well – House turned his attention back to the telly. "Yes. Now be quiet, I want to watch that."

Trying to figure out just how serious House was with his comments, Wilson finally gave up. He wouldn't get a clear idea until he found out if the robbery story was true. If it was, there might be another explanation as well. Like Buffy Summers actually working with the thugs and only when they got interrupted she played the hero to avoid getting caught. Yeah, that was more likely. The other thugs probably got away as well and the stabbing was just a little accident that turned out to support her lies. However, he wouldn't be able to convince either House or Cuddy until he got more proof.

So he'd wait and keep watching. And then he'd expose her evil ways and not even House would be able to contradict him.

--

Buffy was snuggling deeper into her bed, trying to ignore the evil person at her front door. Who would come to visit her in the middle of the night anyway? On a Saturday? Grumbling when the knocking wouldn't cease, Buffy opened her left eye to look at her alarm clock.

10:11 a.m.

Not the middle of the night, then.

Groaning, she opened her other eye and slowly got up. She all but shuffled to the door and mumbled moodily along the way. Looking through the peephole, her eyes suddenly opened completely and she quickly removed the door chain and opened the two deadbolts.

"Faith," Buffy breathed out, relief clearly evident in her voice.

"Hey B," Faith replied while walking into the apartment. Looking at Buffy from top to toe, the smirk on her face grew even more. "Nice jammies."

Blushing, Buffy played with the hem of one of Mark's shirts she was wearing. It might have been too big, but it really wasn't covering all that much either.

Taking in the look of the apartment, Faith's eyebrows rose high enough to meet her hairline. "Whoa, B! No wonder you were still asleep!"

Every surface in the kitchen was covered with freshly made pasta. There were also several lines put up above the breakfast bar that were now covered by fresh spaghetti. And judging by what her nose was telling her, the big pot on the oven contained Mark's special pasta sauce. Tons of it. There was also the possibility of fresh lasagne hiding in the oven.

"What's the emergency? Demon?" Faith asked, still astonished by the sheer amount of pasta. Taking another look at Buffy though, who hadn't moved and looked suddenly rather lost where she was standing in the middle of her apartment, Faith continued much softer, "Personal?"

Buffy nodded. Angrily wiping at her eyes that threatened to spill over with tears – she'd called Faith less than twelve hours ago and here she was – Buffy grumbled, "Stupid hormones."

Cocking her head, Faith looked at Buffy with increased interest. Then, as Buffy's tummy started to rumble with hunger – only to be joined by her own, of course – she broke out into a grin again. "How about we have some of that pasta of yours and you tell me what's wrong?"

Not waiting for a reply, Faith walked around the breakfast bar and put a big pot of water on the stove. Shedding her leather jacket, she motioned towards Buffy's bedroom. "Shower."

Putting her hands onto her hips, Buffy pouted at Faith, "Hey! Right now I'm smelling much nicer than you!"

Smirking, Faith shrugged her shoulder, "Because you've perfected your sleepyhead impression while I've been riding my baby through the country. Besides, I can always take a shower later."

Eyes popping unnaturally wide open, Buffy literally stared open mouthed at the other slayer. "Baby?" She squeaked.

Now that was interesting, Faith thought with her eyes opening equally wide as Buffy's. She wasn't, _was_ she? "I've got myself a new motorcycle and thought a little road trip would be just the right thing to try it out," Faith replied instead of asking the question that was really at the tip of her tongue.

"Oh."

"Shower," Faith repeated gently, smiling at her friend.

She couldn't help herself but feel protective of the older Slayer at the moment. While she always seemed so strong, Faith knew that Mark's death had really thrown her off. Although Faith could tell through their semi-frequent phone calls that Buffy was getting better, she really appreciated the trust that had been growing between them ever since Sunnydale went down a few years ago.

Buffy wasn't calling Dawn, Giles or the other original Scoobies first no matter what anymore. Now it dependent on the actual cause for the call. Some were still clearly Scooby-topics. But there were others when Faith was Buffy's first choice. And, judging by Buffy's relief on seeing her on her doorstep, this time was one of the latter cases. Although, if her suspicions were right, Faith wondered why.

And maybe she felt a tiny bit smug too.

--

Across town, House popped another Vicodin and kept on staring into his open wardrobe. Well, rather on the big sheet of paper he'd attached to the inside of its door.

There, in big bold letter, Buffy Summers could be read.

Underneath he'd written several words.

_Sarcastic. _

_Quick wit, no fear of using it against superiors. _

_Injuries, probably from fighting. _

_Touchy when mentioning dead __boyfriend__ fiancé. _

_Imposing presence when provoked._

_Knowledge of martial arts. _

_Convincing Blonde act. _

_Connection to Cuddy??_

_Evil (Wilson)._

_Evil (Marmine – connection to Buffy?)._

Twirling the pen around his fingers, House pondered on how all those things could be connected. Then, remembering something else, he added _Sunnydale_.

Rubbing his hands together, he figured it was time for a little exploratory mission to her apartment. Marmine, the idiot, would help him by giving him her work-schedule. And then he'd hopefully find some answers.

--

"Wow," Faith said once Buffy told her everything that happened during the last week. "Though it's good, right?"

Buffy nodded, a small smile on her face. After finishing their meal, actually managing to make a dent in the fresh pasta and the special sauce, they had retired into the living room area of the apartment's open plan kitchen/dining/living room layout. This was the most personalised part of the flat as far as Faith was concerned. Although she hadn't been to Buffy's bedroom yet.

There were pictures of the extended Scooby-family – including herself – and Joyce scattered all over the wall while the artificial mantelpiece around the flat screen TV was dedicated to her relationship with Mark – without becoming a shrine to him. The couch, table, armchairs and cushions on the windowsill of the bay-window Faith recognised from Buffy's apartment in Rome. Most of the other furniture had come with the apartment but it actually worked to give a nice comfy feel to the apartment.

Absently playing with Mr Gordo, Buffy finally nodded in reply to Faith's question. She was sitting on the windowsill, legs tucked under her. "Yeah."

Smiling widely, Faith moved next to Buffy. "So, little B, huh?"

Buffy snickered. She was so glad Faith had come so quickly. More so, she wasn't passing on any unwanted advice but just joined into Buffy's joy. That was the reason she'd call her first instead of Dawn. Or Giles, Willow and Xander. Yes, they were her family and will be happy for her as well. But they'll probably go into overprotection mode right away and that was the last thing Buffy needed before she'd figured everything out.

"Need some Slayer help?" Faith continued.

"Thanks," Buffy replied, hugging Faith.

"Uhm. You're welcome?" Faith replied, uncertain of Buffy's new emotional release. "What for?"

"For asking, not just assuming I'll stop patrolling immediately," Buffy explained. "Even though I'm going to. So the answer would be yes."

"Cool." Faith said. Closing her eyes for a moment, she analysed all the Slayers under her wing. "How about Eve and Sondra? Eve's level-headed and learned pretty much everything I can teach her. Sondra is still a bit impulsive, but she and Eve are close. Besides, Sondra's family is from New York and she already asked for an assignment close to home."

Buffy nodded. That sounded good.

Faith, however, wasn't that pleased. Her face showing a mixture of shock and disgust, she said, "Oh my god! I suddenly sound all watcher-y and sensible!"

Snickering at Faith, Buffy patted her shoulders in consolation.

For the rest of the day they just lazed around, and, amongst other things, figured out the best approach to the two Slayer's relocation.

--

After appreciating Faith's new bike – a model that was fittingly going by Shadow Sabre – the two Slayers hugged for a final time. Securing her helmet, Faith started the machine and roared off back to Cleveland.

Watching her leave with a smile on her face, Buffy was truly glad she'd called Faith. While she still had to talk to everyone else, she saw the future much clearer now. Felt that she could make it work. On her terms. It would, hopefully, make it much easier to talk to Dawn and the rest of the Sunnydale crew. However, as soon as she entered her apartment, she decided procrastination was her newest friend.

Besides, it was probably the middle of the night in England anyway.

A glance at her watch told her it wasn't.

Damn. Stupid watch. Taking it off, she haphazardly threw it in the direction of her couch.

Exercise. Yes. That was it. She was pregnant and exercising was good for her. So the phone calls had to wait. What a shame.

Hiding her mobile, just so it couldn't jump her while she was busy avoiding it, Buffy quickly grabbed her keys again and left her apartment. Standing outside she looked up at the blue sky and decided a nice, long walk was as good as any other kind of exercise. She wasn't really in the mood for a run, so it was the best next thing. Besides, walking always helped her thinking things through.

Buffy had no idea how long she walked or where she was going. She was deep in thought and only looked up to cross streets and such. She went wherever parks and sidewalks would lead her. Still, when she finally felt something akin to thirst and took a closer look at her surroundings she was more than shocked to find herself on the very street she knew Lisa Cuddy was living in.

How did that happen?

Putting her hands over her belly, she closed her eyes and could hear her baby's heartbeat quicken for a second before it went back to it's normal pace. Suddenly the urgent need not only to drink but to pee arose. Opening her eyes, she moved her hands and looked down accusingly. "You! It's not very nice to have fun with your mommy, you know!"

Sighing, Buffy looked up and down the street. She _really_ needed to pee now. And, considering it was a suburban neighbourhood, there was no public restroom in sight.

It wasn't like she could just walk up to a random house and ask to use their toilet. Could she?

However, there was one home she knew she'd be allowed to enter. Only this particular home would bring a complication or two. Or a million. But she wasn't counting.

Pouting, Buffy kept grumbling to her belly, while moving towards the number she knew belonged to Lisa Cuddy.

Her biological mother.

So much for avoiding to tell her family about her baby.

Ignoring everything around her once more, Buffy walked fiercely along the sidewalk. Not even taking a look at the outside of the house, Buffy went straight for the front door.

This, however, prevented her from seeing a certain motorcycle in the driveway.

As soon as she reached the door, she lifted her hand to knock before she could start to worry even more. She was about to knock again when she heard steps coming towards the door. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and waited for the door to open. Her thoughts must have drifted off again because the next thing she heard was the surprised voice of Lisa Cuddy.

"Buffy? What are you doing here?"

Opening her eyes quickly, Buffy blushed brightly. "Uhm… I was in the area, taking a walk?"

Cuddy just rose her eyebrows. "Didn't you mention you live close to the hospital?"

"I did? I do, I mean. Live close to the hospital," Buffy quickly replied.

"That's several miles away! You walked all that?" Lisa asked in astonishment.

"I like walking?" Buffy offered before her stomach decided to join her baby and bladder and disobey her too. Which meant it started to grumble loudly.

Rolling her eyes, Cuddy looked Buffy up and down. Children. "When is the last time you ate?"

Looking at her wrist, only to find her watch missing, Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. Before I left, I guess."

"That must have been hours ago!" Cuddy exclaimed concerned, motioned Buffy to enter. "What about drinking?"

"Same," Buffy admitted sheepishly while crossing her legs. The mentioning of something to drink didn't exactly help certain urges.

Taking Buffy's arm, Cuddy lead her towards her dining area, pushing her into a chair. "Sit. I'll get you some water first."

Eyes opening comically wide, Buffy squealed quite desperately, "Bathroom?"

Shaking her head, Cuddy pointed Buffy in the right direction and went to get the promised drink from the kitchen. She might just as well get Buffy something to eat.

"So, picking up random hospital employees from the street now?" House asked with an amused grin. He'd listen to the conversation from the kitchen but decided to stay hidden from Buffy.

Looking him square in the eyes, Cuddy replied evenly, "Wouldn't be the first one, would it?"

Smirking, House followed her to the dining area. Cuddy, knowing House quite well after all those years, only put the glass of water on the table before continuing to the front door. Of course, just like she'd suspected, House followed her.

Opening the door, she stopped and turned to House who was eyeing her curiously.

Leaning against the wall, he hang his cane over his arm and smirked. "I'm not leaving. It's just getting interesting." In fact, the _'Connection to Cuddy?'_ bit on his improvised blackboard had just been upgraded to big capital letters without any question marks.

Not even batting an eyelash, Cuddy grabbed his cane and threw it out onto her front lawn. Turning back to a flabbergasted House, she pointed towards the cane and only said one word. "Fetch!"

Using his astonishment, she manoeuvred him out the door and closed it right in front of his face. Grinning from ear to ear, she strolled back to her dining area, waiting for Buffy.

House, on the other side of the door, took a moment to realise just what had happened. Then a big grin spread across his face. He had trained her well. Raising his hand to demand entrance again, he suddenly stopped mid-motion. Throwing a calculating look between the door and his motorcycle, he let a wicked grin cross his features. Knowing Cuddy, she'd take her time mothering Buffy. Which would give him plenty of time to check out her apartment. Whistling, he went to pick up his cane before he got onto his motorcycle.

Meanwhile, Buffy was in the bathroom, fretting over her next move. Pacing in the small space, she tried to clear her head. Unfortunately it wasn't really working.

So, when Cuddy finally knocked on the door, asking if everything was alright, Buffy jerked the door open.

"So… _whatdoyouthinkaboutgrandkids_?"

* * *

_A/N: Like it? Don't like it :P? Please tell me what you think! Thanks to all your replies to the last chapter, the sheer amount of them really blew my mind! _

_Anyway, ever woke up a domestic shouting match between your non-paying subtenants (I think they're sometimes referred to as mice…)? Not good and very scary. But I had my revenge! I taped up their main door! Ha! See how you run around my flat now! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"What do I _what_?" Cuddy asked confused as she tried to figure out the rest of Buffy's sentence.

Buffy, shocked by her mouth's betrayal – she hadn't intended to say anything like that – was kind of glad her mother didn't catch the sentence. Avoiding her questioning glare, Buffy slipped past her and went back to the dining area. Thankful for something to do, Buffy emptied the glass of water. Because, really, you can't talk while you drink, right?

Putting the glass down, Buffy turned around again to thank her and then run away as fast as she could.

Unfortunately, Lisa Cuddy's brain decided now was the perfect time to finish deciphering Buffy's earlier babbling.

The first expression on Cuddy's face was bewilderment. _Why_ would Buffy want to know what she thought about grandchildren?

This was quickly followed by annoyance. She wasn't _that_ old and surely she didn't look like a grandmother!

Then there was wonderment. How would it feel to hold your own grandchild? _Was_ she a grandma already?!

Catching Buffy's eyes at that moment, Cuddy suddenly knew.

No, she wasn't a grandma.

But she soon would be.

And her expression changed to joy, shock, confusion, worry and so much more at the same time.

Unable to move or even just think a single thought instead of a million at once, Cuddy just stood there. Motionless. Staring at her lost daughter.

As was Buffy. Well, staring at her biological mother.

In fact, if anyone else had been there, he'd probably have commented on the identical expression the two women were wearing. Which was even more of an accomplishment as there were so many emotions present in their faces.

In the end it was Buffy who broke the eye contact by clearing her throat.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Cuddy looked at the blonde woman in front of her. "You are…?"

"Uh huh," Buffy replied, nodding in confirmation. "I am."

"You're so…"

"I'm not _that_ short," Buffy interrupted, crossing her arms.

Somehow, seeing Buffy pout helped Cuddy to shake off the last of her shock. Or the last bit of shock that would leave anytime soon. Smiling, she shook her head. "I meant blond. You hair was very dark when you were born."

"Oh." Blushing, Buffy suddenly no longer knew what to do with herself. It was funny, really. Here she was, longest ever living Slayer – despite being dead for a little while – never at a loss for a witty remark in the eye of danger, yet she didn't really know what to say to her biological mother. Thankfully, her tummy didn't have this kind of problem.

So it rumbled loudly once more.

"Food!" Cuddy exclaimed excitedly, glad for something else to talk about. Not waiting for a reply, she motioned for Buffy to follow her and led her into the living room.

She grabbed the phone and several take-out menus House had smuggled in on an earlier occasion and finally plopped onto her couch with a deep sigh.

"Sit," Cuddy told Buffy somewhat over-enthusiastically, but Buffy was only too glad to comply. "Chinese? Italian? Mexican? Indian?"

On clue, her tummy rumbled even louder than before, causing Buffy to blush rather brilliantly. "Pizza. Vegetarian. Lots of it."

Cuddy shrugged her shoulders, she could live with that, and was about to reply when Buffy continued sheepishly, "And sweet and sour chicken?"

"Interesting combination," Cuddy replied with a wide grin before ordering both things plus some vegetarian spring rolls. They were a secret weakness of hers and it didn't matter that pizza and spring rolls weren't her usual idea of a healthy meal. Today was anything but normal anyway.

As soon as she put the phone down, the two of them went back to staring at each other, not really knowing what to say. Now and then, Cuddy would start to reach over to Buffy as if to touch her but then she'd stop and rapidly retrieve her hand again.

In the end, Cuddy rolled her eyes at herself and said, "Well, this is-"

"Awkward?" Buffy quickly finished for her. "Big time," she added wholeheartedly.

Biting her lower lip, or rather chewing on it, Cuddy finally asked Buffy nervously, "So… how long have you known about… well, me, I guess?"

Looking down at her lap, Buffy played once again nervously with the hem of her shirt. She just wished Mark could be here with her. Eventually looking up, she replied honestly, "Almost a year."

"Oh," Cuddy replied, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Sighing, Buffy got up from the easy chair and sat down next to Cuddy. She tucked her leg under her so she could sit sideways on the couch and actually face her biological mother. Taking her mother's hand, she tried to explain, "I know it sounds like such a long time. But the news hit us completely unexpectedly. Mom had died only a few years earlier and I was still having some trouble with that. I … I just needed time to digest everything. To figure out if I wanted to meet you. To not feel guilty of even thinking about meeting you…"

Cuddy was about to reply when the doorbell rang. Sighing, she reluctantly let go of her daughter's hand and went to get the food. They didn't talk much while they ate, but Cuddy would quite often touch her daughter as if she wanted to make sure she was really there.

Buffy didn't mind. In fact, she understood quite well what her mother was doing. She'd done so herself after her mom had come home from the hospital after her brain surgery. Making sure she was really there. Was really alright. Of course, it hadn't really helped as her mom had died anyway.

So Buffy ate pizza. And the chicken. And sneaked in a couple of spring rolls when Cuddy was too busy touching her.

When Cuddy brought a tub of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream to finish off their meal, Buffy literally squealed in delight.

In a very slayer-y way, of course.

--

A few miles away, House whistled as he limped to Buffy's apartment. Making sure no one was looking, he got his special tools out and tried to open her door. It took a while, but when he finally managed to reach his goal, he let out a small cry of triumph.

Stepping into the apartment he felt as if he was walking through a very thin layer of dust. Frowning, he looked back out the door. Checked the door frame for anything unusual. However, as he didn't find anything abnormal – and certainly didn't experience the weird feeling when he stepped out and in again – he shrugged it off as nothing but an illusion.

Closing the door behind him, he stepped out of the small vestibule and stopped to take everything in. To the left was a dining area while to the right was an open plan kitchen. Decorated by a string full of spaghetti. Looks like someone made pasta from scratch. Walking over, he stole a couple of strands and absently chewed them while taking in everything else in the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he scrunched up his nose.

Boring.

Stepping around the breakfast bar, he found himself in the living room area of the big room. This, if nothing else, would have told him without a doubt that the flat had a female occupant. There were way too many cushions around otherwise. Even for Wilson. Walking to the wall across from the couch, he took in the vast amount of pictures presented there in a seemingly random manner.

So she had friends. And judging by the age, quite a few of them have been together from their early teenage years. Most of the pictures contained groups of people, but there were also some that he thought contained couples. Raising his eyebrows at a particular picture of a redhead and a blonde, he smirked. And not all of them were hetero. Independent of that, Buffy's friends seemed to be quite a mix of different kinds of people.

There was the dark-haired, leather-clad young woman that had his fantasies going down interesting paths. But next to her was a picture of a short guy that screamed geek so loudly to him that it made House shudder. Quickly putting the picture back down, he randomly picked up another one.

This one, however, wasn't a photograph per se but a sketch of a dark-haired man. His eyebrows were drawn together and his whole posture told House he was one of those that had developed brooding into an art form. Even more interesting, he didn't show up on any of the photographs. House had checked twice. As if this wasn't enough, there was another sketch of yet another man. This one was much cockier though. His posture screamed of self-confidence and held a clear challenge to whomever he was facing. Again, he wasn't on any of the photographs either. Yet, he knew they must both be rather important to Buffy.

Weird.

There was also a younger girl who he assumed might be Buffy's sister rather than one of her friends. Then again, the pictures of a much younger Buffy and another young girl were a dead give-away for that. One of the pictures made him smirk more than anything else, though. Buffy Summers in a cheerleader uniform. Oh, he was going to have so much fun with that little bit of information!

The only two older people he found on the wide array of pictures must be Buffy's parents. Then again, while the woman showed up on early pictures of Buffy, the man did not. Maybe he was mommy's new lover? Still, judging by the group pictures, he cared not only about Buffy but her friends as well.

Taking a closer look, he frowned and started with the earliest picture again. He really wasn't imagining things. On more group pictures than not, at least one of them was injured. Even on the early teenage pictures. In fact, the dark haired teenager with the goofy grinned seemed to have gotten himself a permanent eye patch in his late teens.

Now _that_ put Buffy's earlier split lip into a completely new light.

As it did her defending the patient stupid enough to get herself robbed on hospital grounds.

Somehow Buffy was involved in fighting from an early age. As were her friends. But _why_? And _how_? That clearly deserved some deeper digging. Rubbing his hands in anticipation House moved further on, to the pictures on the mantelpiece.

One look was enough to tell him that he was now looking at Buffy's fiancé. Scratching his head, he wondered why he looked so familiar. There wasn't anything special about him. He was dark-haired and had pretty standard features. Okay, his nose was slightly crooked as if it had been broken at one point. The most prominent feature though, House thought, were his laughing eyes. They spoke of a joy of life House had never really understood yet were also different from goofy pirate guy's laughing eyes.

Scratching his ear, he picked up yet another picture of him and scrutinised it even closer. This time it was one without Buffy at his side and the feeling of having seen him before grew even stronger. But as glaring at the photo didn't bring him closer to solving the mystery that was Buffy's fiancé, House finally moved away from the pictures.

There were two more doors to investigate and he didn't know when Buffy would be back, after all.

Scratching his nose, he opened the door closest to him.

--

Having put the trash from their impromptu meal away, Cuddy walked back to the living room. Stopping at the entrance, she watched Buffy – her daughter – deep in thought sitting on her couch. Pinching herself, just to make sure she really wasn't dreaming, Cuddy walked back in and sat back down next to her.

"So," Buffy said.

"So," Cuddy repeated, "Still hungry?"

Grinning, Buffy shook her head. "Nope. I'm all fed and watered for now."

Shaking her head, she still couldn't believe Buffy had actually managed to finish everything off, Cuddy continued, "Just where did all that food go?"

"It wasn't all that much," Buffy pouted. "Besides, I'm eating for two, remember?"

Nodding, Cuddy's smile grew. There'd soon be a baby to hold and pamper. If she couldn't have another baby herself, at least she'd have her grandchild to play with. Even if she'd never correct anyone who though she was holding her child and not her grandchild.

Eyes suddenly twinkling with mischief, Buffy said thoughtfully, "I wonder what House will say about the whole grandma thing…"

Cuddy, who'd just taken a drink of water, sprayed it all over her couch table. Coughing, she looked at Buffy. "That wasn't funny."

"Uh huh," Buffy nodded innocently.

"I'll never live that down! _He'll_ never let me live it down," Cuddy continued, her mind showing her all the horror scenarios it could come up with.

Becoming serious again, Buffy shook her head. "Don't worry. As much fun as it may be to watch, I'd rather keep this to ourselves."

"Oh," Cuddy said, disappointment once more evident in her voice.

Shaking her head, Buffy took her hand again. "I want to get to know you without him barging in every other minute."

"Really?" Cuddy asked, her voice full of hope.

"Really," Buffy said without hesitation.

Biting her lip again, Cuddy finally looked Buffy in the eyes. "Would you … would you like to tell me about, you know…?"

"Growing up?"

Smiling sheepishly at her inability to finish that simply question, Cuddy nodded.

So, after getting more comfortable, Buffy started to tell her mother about her childhood and teenage years.

--

The door House tried led into the guest bed room. Only that this room obviously doubled as some kind of training area. Yes, there was a bed, but it was standing on it's headpiece, pushed up against the wall and therefore leaving most of the floor space free. The floor was covered in gym mats and several weights were lined up on one wall. The most interesting thing, however, was a long wooden chest on the wall across from the bed. Itching with anticipation, House stepped closer and tried to open it.

Only the lid wouldn't budge. Worse, he couldn't really see any lock he could mess around with in order to open the chest. Yet, he could clearly distinguish between the chest body and the lid. So why didn't it open? He even tried to move it away from the wall – maybe the lock was hidden on that side – but he found himself unable to move it.

Swearing at the uncooperative chest for a final time, House left the room for the last one.

Buffy's bedroom.

It was even bigger than the guest room and had its own bathroom. Its very female smelling bathroom. Scrunching up his nose, House quickly searched the medical cabinet which, apart from being rather well organised, didn't contain anything unusual. The bedroom itself was, well, not much different from Cuddy's, really. Apart from yet another wooden chest at the food of the big bed. And, just like the other one, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't open it.

Grumbling in frustration, he opened the wardrobe but it only contained clothes. An awful lot of them too. Moving over, he opening the last wardrobe door – and needed a second to recover from his shock. Everywhere he looked were shoes. How could just one person need so many shoes? Some of them, he was sure, were actually identical too! Or only differed slightly in colour!

Visibly shuddering, he quickly closed that particular door again. He'd probably have nightmares for ages now.

While taking another look around, he subconsciously scratched first his elbow followed by his other ear.

House kicked the unhelpful wooden chest and was about to leave when his eyes locked onto the picture of Buffy's fiancé on her bedside table. He tilted his head slightly and a small smile started to play along his lips.

He'd just solved one of the mysteries involving Buffy Summers.

--

"You burnt down your high school gym?" Cuddy asked shocked. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard!

"It was an accident, really," Buffy pouted. She hadn't really meant to mention this little fact but her mouth had been faster than her brain. "Besides, it was way old and run down. So it just helped them with the demolition costs."

Raising her eyebrows, Cuddy just shook her head. She didn't really want to contradict her daughter the day she'd met her again. Seeing her scratch the stitches House put in only a couple of days ago, Cuddy slapped Buffy's hand away. "Stop that."

"But it's itching!" Buffy whined. In fact, two days was more than enough for the cut to heal enough for the stitches to come out.

"Want me to have a look?" Cuddy asked concerned. The wound was still fresh and she didn't want Buffy to aggravate it by scratching. Especially now that she knew Buffy was her daughter, Cuddy was even more worried about it.

Buffy shook her head. She figured telling her mother she was her long lost daughter was more than enough for one afternoon. She didn't need to add the Slayer stuff on top of that too.

Sighing, Cuddy let it go and asked instead, "What happened next?"

"Well," Buffy drawled out. "I kinda had to change school after that. Mom found a job in Sunnydale so we moved there."

"And lived there until it became a sinkhole?" Cuddy asked curiously. After all, she'd already known Buffy lived in Sunnydale at some point and had made the connection to it being Lake Sunnydale before.

Sadness flickered through Buffy's eyes for a second but she pushed her bad thoughts in the back of her mind again and nodded. "Yes. Mom had died earlier but Dawnie and I left just before Sunnyhe- … Sunnydale went down."

Having noticed the pain in her eyes, Cuddy gently rubbed her shoulder. "What happened?"

Shaking her head, Buffy took a deep breath and went on with telling her about moving to Italy shortly after.

Confused, Cuddy asked, "Italy? Not that it's not a nice country and all, but why Italy?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Giles figured it would be the best starting point to re-organise ourselves."

Cuddy nodded. Then her head snapped up with quite some force. "Giles? _Rupert_ Giles? G-man _is_ Rupert Giles?"

Oy. Buffy had managed to keep his name out until now and referred to him only as G-man. But, apparently, this one had slipped through. So much for avoiding the whole slayer-ness on the first day.

"Oops?" Buffy offered sheepishly.

* * *

_A/N: Woah! You guys are great! One little cliffhanger and you can't stop reviewing! LOL. I shall try that again. MUHAHAHAHAHA!_


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"How... I mean... are you?" Cuddy stammered, completely flabbergasted by Buffy's revelation. "No, you can't be. Thank god! You're _old_."

Buffy didn't say anything but let her mother pace up and down in front of the couch, listening to her thoughts. However, she felt quite a pang of fear in her heart when Lisa, as they agreed on Buffy calling her, seemed to be pleased that Buffy _'couldn't be because she was old'_.

After several more minutes of pacing, Cuddy sighed deeply and plopped back down next to her daughter. Eyes closed, her head resting on the back of the couch, Cuddy took her daughters hand. Turning so that she'd face Buffy, Cuddy stated quietly, "You're the Slayer."

Buffy nodded, as she didn't really trust her voice right now. She only hoped Lisa wasn't going to reject her for her weirdness. Or, considering her profession, turn her into a lab-rat either.

Cuddy watched the emotions play across her daughter's face. Her eyes were downcast and Cuddy had a pretty good idea of what was going on in her head. Releasing Buffy's hand, she gently grabbed her chin and lifted her head so Buffy would have to face and look at her. Once their eyes met, Cuddy smiled and kissed her forehead.

"I'm so proud of you," Cuddy whispered in her ear.

"Huh?" Okay, that wasn't what Buffy had expected. Judging by the grin on her mother's face, she wasn't only feeling clueless but looking it as well.

Leaning back but once again taking Buffy's hand in hers, Cuddy asked, "I suppose Mr Giles told you about me?"

Now it was Buffy's turn to grin. "Yep. There was heavy involve-age of glasses cleaning and sighing and nose pinching too. Oh! And then there were also the repeated head shakings and mutterings of _'I should have known.' _Actually_, _it was rather funny to watch."

Cuddy raised an eye-brow at that, but refrained from commenting. Instead, she asked, "You said you met in Sunnydale, right?" Upon her daughter's nod, she continued curiously, "Then he wasn't training you as a Potential?"

As a shadow crossed Buffy's face, she shook her head. "No. I was never identified as a Potential. But one day Merrick, my first watcher, turned up and told me I was the Slayer yadda, yadda, yadda. He was killed shortly after. I burned down the gym, moved to Sunnydale and met Giles as our school librarian." Snorting bitterly, Buffy added, "Guess good 'ol Quentin Travers got a really good kick out of it. Stolen baby of a Potential became the Slayer without them realising. And then giving her the same Watcher as her mother had."

Gripping Buffy's hand tighter, Cuddy asked quietly, "And Mr Giles didn't know?"

"No!" Buffy said, being absolutely sure of that. "He was physically sick when he found the papers hidden in some old file cabinet. In fact, he went to work as curator for the British Museum after leaving you. I was his first job as Watcher again."

Jumping up, Cuddy started pacing again, fuming with anger. "Oh, if I'll ever get hold of Quentin Travers he'll be very, _very_ sorry he was ever born!"

Buffy was pleased with her mother's reaction. "I'm afraid someone beat you to that. Or me. Or Giles, for that matter," she said, rather unhappy with that fact herself.

Stopping mid-motion, Cuddy stared at her daughter. "Really?"

"Yep. Most of the old council went down in a big bang," Buffy said. Crossing her arms, she pouted. "We didn't even get an invitation to watch."

Raising her eyebrows, Cuddy asked, "What happened?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Let's just say there was this really, _really_ big bad trying to kill off the Slayer-line once and for all. The headquarters were just one step on the way."

"But it didn't work," Cuddy replied, pride clearly evident in her voice.

"No, it didn't work," Buffy confirmed quietly, tiredly. "But it was close. Too close. And the prize for victory was a heavy one."

Not knowing what else to do, Cuddy leaned over and pulled her daughter into a hug. Buffy resisted at first but then she couldn't get close enough. It was the embrace she had yearned for after their final battle. The embrace only parents were able to give. The embrace her mom couldn't give to her because she had been dead for a couple of years already.

Cuddy, surprised by the fierceness of Buffy's reaction, simply held on to her daughter. She gently stroked her back, whispering words of comfort into her ear.

Finally Buffy managed to get herself back in control. She hadn't really cried but hadn't been able to let go of her mother either. Leaning back into the couch, she looked up sheepishly. "Sorry. Stupid hormones."

Gently stroking her cheek, Cuddy shook her head. "There's nothing to be sorry about." Taking a deep breath, unsure if she even wanted to know, she asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Biting her lip, Buffy finally shook her head. She might already feel rather comfortable around her mother, but that didn't mean she'd start throwing all the bad stuff that had happened to her at Lisa at once. "Maybe later."

"That's okay. I'm just glad you are here to even give me the chance to get to know you," Cuddy said seriously.

"Me too," Buffy replied smiling.

"You know, I meant it when I said I was proud of you," Cuddy continued, once again holding Buffy's hand in hers. "Just knowing you survived so long makes you an extraordinary person."

Eyes tearing up, Buffy whispered, "Really?"

"Really."

And, wiping the lone tear from Buffy's face, Cuddy told how she'd often thought about what her life as Slayer would have been like. How, the longer she thought about it, the gladder she had become for not having been called.

How, the older she became, the more she had thanked fate for giving her a normal life. For not having the fate of so many people resting on her shoulders. For not having to make the decisions she couldn't even start to imagine that she now knew her own daughter had to make. For not having to make any sacrifices she wasn't sure she'd be strong enough to make.

And now, after having met Buffy, how she'd be eternally grateful to Buffy's mom for making her such a strong person. To Mr Giles for helping her in any way possible. For not making her stick to the strict rules she knew from her own experience as Potential the Council would expect the Slayer to follow. Because, judging by all the things Buffy had told her already, Mr Giles had become so much more than what a Watcher was supposed to be. He'd become part of Buffy's family.

--

Entering his apartment, House haphazardly threw his leather jacket in the direction of his coat-rack before he limped into his kitchen. Getting a beer, he continued on to his bedroom, going straight for his improvised white-board. Ripping the top paper off, he scrunched it up and threw it over his back. Taking his pen, he started anew.

_Connection to Cuddy._

No doubt about that. He might not have found any evidence in her apartment but there was definitely something going on. Most likely Buffy knew Cuddy without Cuddy being aware of it. He'd have to keep a very close eye on them on Monday. Or Tuesday, when Buffy would be back at work.

_Sarcastic, quick wit, no fear of superiors. _

These words made him smile. He'd have been proud to be the one teaching her those vital skills.

_Knowledge of martial arts. Fighting since teenage years. Convincing Blonde act. Vigilante group with friends (definite leader potential)? _

House was pretty sure all these things were part of a bigger picture he had yet to decipher.

He wondered if he could get a police report on her. Didn't they cure some California based politician's kid or something a couple of years back? Cameron would know. Then he could come up with some teary-eyed story and ask for the information. Even better, he'd just have to sit back without actually doing anything to get the info he wanted.

_Evil (Marmine). Fiancé related to Marmine's girlfriend (brother?). _

There wasn't much doubt about the latter fact. Not in his mind, anyway. When he saw his picture on Buffy's bedside table he suddenly remembered why he looked so familiar. He was, undoubtedly, related to Marmine's chick, a doctor from the hospital across town. He'd seen her often enough, both at a conference and while she'd been meeting up with Marmine in front of the hospital several times. But, judging by all the pictures around the apartment, Buffy's guy was way more fun than her. House knew Marmine's doctor came from an influential family. So maybe Marmine thought bringing the lost son or cousin back to the States would put him in their favour. That actually made sense.

Buffy turning up alone must have had quite an impact on Marmine's original plan and now he was taking his frustrations out on her. But she was good at what she was doing so Marmine couldn't just get rid of her again. Though House approved of Marmine's plan from a scheming point of view, he wasn't going to let him get away with it. First, he'd figure out the exact family relation. Then he was going to have some fun with Marmine.

Maybe he'd even tell Buffy as he was certain she had no idea about any of this. Watching her chewing out Marmine might be fun too. Or, depending on what he could learn on the Cuddy-Buffy mystery, he'd tell Cuddy.

God, he loved good entertainment!

_Evil (Wilson)._

Well, House decided to wait to see what Wilson would come up with next. The robbery clearly threw him off, but he was sure he'd managed to teach Wilson a thing or two over the past years. So he'd come up something else. House would just have to wait and enjoy the show.

Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, House finally put the pen away and went back to his living room. Exchanging his empty beer bottle with a full one on the way, he just grabbed his phone before falling onto his couch. He pressed a speed-dial button and once the connection was made, ordered dinner.

And subconsciously scratched his arm.

Followed by his leg.

--

Mother and daughter talked until Buffy's tummy rumbled once more.

"Sorry," Buffy said, blushing slightly. "Slayer metabolism and all that."

"Slayer metabolism?" Cuddy asked curiously. Though they had talked about a lot of things, they only touched some basics connected to Buffy's slayer-ness. This, however, included the demon that had dared to attack her hospital and Cuddy could only thank Buffy for handling it. Accepting her daughter's not wanting to go into too much detail of anything else though, Cuddy simply soaked up as much other things as possible.

Buffy nodded. "Trust me, you don't want to know my money-spendage on food!"

"Money-spendage?" Cuddy chuckled. Buffy just shrugged her shoulder. Shaking her head at another example of her daughter's sometimes weird speech patter, Cuddy continued, "At least you don't have to worry about getting fat," Cuddy chuckled.

"Hel-lo! Pregnant, remember?"

Cuddy's smile became even bigger. "How about I make us dinner?"

Buffy glanced at her watch, unsure of her reply. "I don't know. It's pretty late already and I should probably go home."

"But you'll still need to eat," Cuddy all but pleaded. Logically, she knew that she'd see Buffy again. If not tomorrow, then on Tuesday. They worked in the same hospital, after all. But her heart, her heart was afraid that once Buffy left, she'd never see her again.

Seeing the emotions run across her mother's face, Buffy finally nodded.

Smiling thankfully Cuddy was about to get up when she saw Buffy scratching her back by slightly moving up and down the couch's backrest. "Stop scratching!"

"Huh?" Buffy asked confused but continued her subconscious movement. "I'm not scratching."

"Yes you are. Stop or you'll pull your stitches," Cuddy replied, putting a hand on Buffy's shoulder to keep her still.

Realisation dawning, Buffy blushed. And whined, "But it's _really_ itchy. It's House's fault anyway. The stitches were completely unnecessary!"

"Buffy-" Cuddy sighed.

"They can come out anyway," Buffy interrupted. Crossing her arms, she sulked some more. "I should sue House for inflicting unnecessary harm or something."

"Please," Cuddy snorted. "House is getting sued enough as it is."

"Really?" Buffy asked curiously, forgetting about her itching stitches for the moment.

Her mother nodded and sighed theatrically. "Anyway, why don't I have a look at the stitches. Maybe I can do something about the itching."

"They just need to be removed."

"No, Buffy. That's too soon," Cuddy replied, shaking her head.

"Lisa, I've got Slayer-healing, remember? Trust me, they _are_ ready to be removed," Buffy explained, looking her mother straight in the eyes.

Raising her eyebrows, Cuddy looked sceptically at her daughter. However, she remembered Mr Giles saying something about enhanced healing capabilities. But being a medical doctor also made her question that claim. "Guess there's only one way to find out."

Getting up, she nodded towards her bathroom. "I'll have a look and decide what to do, okay?"

Buffy was about to protest when she realised hearing about something and actually seeing it were two different things. Therefore she took the offered hand and followed her mother. Besides, as long as she got her to remove the stitches, she wouldn't have to do it herself. Because, judging by the position they were in, they would be quite awkward to reach. "What about dinner?"

Chuckling, Cuddy turned to face her daughter. "You'll play nice and I'll feed you afterwards. Deal?"

"Deal," Buffy replied, her grin matching her mother's. "I hope there's some of that ice-cream left."

Laughing out loud, Cuddy shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe."

--

Groaning, House turned at the sound of his alarm clock. Blindly reaching in its general direction, he finally managed to switch it off. As luck would have it, the bottle of Vicodin had been in the way of his hand and was now discovering the world from House's bedroom floor. Opening his eyes he sighed when he discovered it was still close enough for him to reach it with his outstretched arm. Barely.

Quickly opening it and swallowing two tablets, his leg really hurt this morning, he let himself fall back onto his pillow and sighed in relief. There was no way he was going to move until the pain killers started to do their job.

Unfortunately, as soon as the pain in his leg was subsiding, another problem made itself know.

Opening one eye, he looked at the hand he was holding in front of his face. His second eye snapping open, he muttered the first words of the day.

"Oh shit."

--

_A/N: Once again thank you for all those lovely reviews. They really made my day. Again :D. Hope you liked the newest instalment as well. I'm off to visit the parental units and am not sure how much writing time I'll have. I mean, I actually might get to see the summer everyone is talking about! So the next instalment might be a bit later than usual… House will just have to suffer a little bit longer till he get fixed. LOL._


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 **

On Monday morning, Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital experienced something it hadn't done for as long as it could remember.

The current Dean of Medicine, Dr Lisa Cuddy, whistled happily while walking into her place of work. She greeted everyone with the most brilliant smile she was capable of. Not that she usually looked gloomy while coming into work, but the current dazzling, eye-sparkling smile was a truly special sight. She even all but flirted with everyone on the way to her office.

Still humming, she closed the door behind her and got herself organised for a day she'd rather spend with someone else.

Her daughter.

Last night had been great. Once she'd overcome the fact that Buffy's wound was indeed healed, she had quickly removed the stitches. Although she'd wanted to ask so many questions about that particular fact, she had quickly realised that Buffy was uncomfortable with answering them. Or questions on how Buffy had gotten any of the, albeit faint, scars she'd pointed out.

So Cuddy had moved on to simpler questions and they had spent the rest of the night talking some more about their general life. Buffy had talked about growing up, her ice-skating and other dreams as little girl. In return, Cuddy told her about her own childhood, her friends and family – they were Buffy's family too, after all.

She had also talked a bit about Buffy's biological father. How he, although they weren't together anymore, had tried to support Cuddy after she made the decision to keep her baby instead of running off. Yes, he had been relieved when Cuddy had suddenly changed her mind but she wasn't really blaming him. And, even after all these years they hadn't lost contact completely. He had also asked both Cuddy's opinion on, and for her approval of, telling his wife about their daughter.

Later, when they realised just how late it was, Cuddy had offered Buffy her guest bedroom and Buffy had accepted. Just this one simple thought was enough to keep Cuddy's eyes alight with happiness. This morning, they had had breakfast together before Cuddy had left for work. She had offered to give Buffy a lift but she had refused and said she'd rather walk.

Cuddy hadn't been too pleased with it, but Buffy had convinced her that her Slayer-radar would lead her home safely on the same way she'd used the previous day. Being confronted with her daughter's stubbornness left Cuddy no choice but to agree. So she had given Buffy a bottle of water and made her a sandwich – just to be on the safe side, they couldn't leave the baby to starve, after all – and watched her daughter leave until she had been out of sight.

Sighing at the memory, Cuddy turned to her now booted up computer and went to work.

After checking her mobile was switched on and charged so Buffy could reach her if need be.

Or once she was home as she'd promised.

--

Later the same morning, Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching hospital was once again greeted by a whistling member of staff.

This time, however, it wasn't all that unusual.

But a sure sign that aforementioned member of staff was up to no good.

It was none other than Dr Gregory House, after all.

Ignoring the scolding glances Nurse Brenda was throwing him as he sauntered through the open clinic, House went straight for the elevators.

Repeatedly jabbing the button to his floor, he impatiently waited for the doors to close. Because, in all honesty, keeping up the innocent whistling started to become rather straining.

Unfortunately, whatever Power was in charge today, didn't abide by his wishes. Just as the door was to close completely, a hand slipped in the ever narrowing gap between the doors, pushing them open again.

House groaned and just increased his button-jabbing exercise. To no avail, of course.

"Morning," Wilson said, while raising a questioning eye-brow. Or two. "Evading clinic duty again?"

"Nope. Got future ducklings to torture," House replied.

Wilson looked at his friend – there was a slightly odd note to his voice today – and this time his eye-brows actually met his hairline. "Nice glove."

Looking at his hand, House acted as if he saw the glove for the first time. And shrugged his shoulders. "It looked lost. Thought I might give it a change of scenery." Carefully moving his other hand, he made sure that glove was nicely hidden in his jeans' pocket.

"That's … nice of you," Wilson replied, his voice throbbing with both sarcasm and curiosity.

House just shrugged his shoulders again while he continued to abuse the elevator buttons. That actually felt good! Experimentally shrugging his shoulders again, he wanted to moan in relief. The movement caused his shirt to rub along that very itchy spot on his shoulder blade and, short of dislocating his shoulder while trying to reach it or rubbing himself on the elevator walls, it was the only way to find some reprieve from the itch.

"House?" Wilson interrupted his musings. "What are you doing?"

"Morning exercise," House replied while sending him his death glare. Wilson had better not be thinking of contradicting him.

Wilson sighed. It didn't look like now was a good time to bring up Buffy Summers again. Though he couldn't even think of a semi-plausible explanation for House's weird behaviour. Looking at his feet to overcome the awkwardness, well, his awkwardness of the situation, Wilson caught another movement out of the corner of his eye. His head snapping up again, he looked at his friend with wide open eyes.

Vaguely motioning towards House's nether regions, Wilson asked with a rather high pitch in his voice, "Are you … are you doing what I think you're doing?"

"Nope," House replied innocently. "I'm not thinking of Cuddy." Tilting his head slightly, he added calmly - while continuing to scratch his, well, itch - "Right now you're the only person on my mind."

Which was true. He'd just thought about asking his friend to prescribe him some anti-histamines for his allergic reaction to, well, something, that caused his various itching body parts.

Wilson, however, wasn't aware of that afterthought. In fact, he thought exactly what almost everyone would have thought in the same situation. House had his hand in his pocket, clearly rubbing himself. Therefore, Wilson's very predictable reaction was to splutter something unintelligible before moving as far away from House as possible.

House shrugged. He might be itching all over, but the look on Wilson's face was almost worth it. So, really, how would he able to look at himself without disgust if he didn't built on it? Thankfully, the scratching in itself helped with that too. Because, as everybody who had ever experienced some sort of itching knew, scratching that itch brings not only relief but also a smile onto your face. Hence, after making sure Wilson could see his face, House did one additional, more than obvious, scratching movement in his crotch before closing his eyes and sighing in obvious bliss.

Hearing Wilson gasp, House opened his eyes and said with conviction, "Wow. _That_ was really good."

Wilson continued to stare open-mouthed at House. Whistling, the latter left the lift as soon as the door opened. When Wilson didn't follow, he turned around, asking innocently. "You coming?"

Finally coming out of his shock, Wilson closed his mouth and quickly caught up with House. In fact, he started to run along the corridor to catch up with him. Then again, House entering Wilson's office instead of his own might have been the main reason for his hurry.

Upon entering, he saw House leaning against his desk, scribbling something down. Leaving the door open, Wilson quickly closed the distance between them and looked at … his own prescription pad? "Huh?"

Tearing off the top slip, House looked at his friend in clear amusement. "Ah, you're still looking for your ability to speak. Need any help?"

Scowling, Wilson walked around his desk and let himself fall into his chair. "Very funny."

House bowed slightly before putting the prescription right in front of his friend. "You can have an autograph once I've got yours."

Brows still furrowed, Wilson took the paper into his hands and read what House had written down. "Anti-histamines?"

"What?" House asked, widening his eyes in mock-shock. "You can't expect me to scratch all my itchy bits in front of a patient. Or worse, Cuddy!" Leaning over, he whispered conspiratorially, "Some are in rather sensitive areas, you know?"

Blushing, both in embarrassment at his earlier thoughts and in anger at himself for once again falling for one of House's ruses, Wilson quickly signed the prescription. "I didn't know you had any allergies."

House shrugged, took the prescription out of Wilson's hand and left for the door. "Me neither."

--

Buffy looked at the phone.

Again.

She really should phone Giles. And Dawn. Willow and Xander. Tell them she was pregnant. Unless, of course, there was something more important to do.

_Like cleaning_. Unfortunately, cleaning her whole apartment _twice_ was already more than enough for one day.

_Phoning her mother?_ Nope, she'd done that already when she arrived back at her apartment. She didn't want to sound too desperate after all.

_Thinking of baby names? _That was important too, right? Then again, a list with twenty boy's and girl's names should be enough for one day.

She had counted them. Thrice.

_Eating?_ Nope, she was still full. She'd just finished her after-lunch snack. Or, rather, her after after-lunch snack.

_Sleeping?_ Nope, that didn't work either.

Sighing, Buffy took the phone and pressed one of the speed-dial buttons. Listening to the ringing on the other end, she hoped for some inspiration of how to tell her family. Her thoughts, however, where interrupted by an unexpected voice. "B? What's up?"

Eyes suddenly wide open, Buffy asked rather confused, "Why are you in England?"

"Huh?" Now it was Faith' turn to be confused. "You alright? I'm still in Cleveland."

"I-" Buffy started before moving the phone away from her ear so she could look at it. True, the display showed Faith' number in Cleveland. Weird. Shaking her head, she moved the phone back and started again, "I thought I'd dialled England."

Faith chuckled. "The kid taking you over already?"

"No-o," Buffy pouted. "Just pressed the wrong button."

"Uh huh," Faith replied, amusement clearly evident in her voice. "Sounds more like delaying the call to Dawn and the others."

"That's not true!" Buffy said, still pouting.

Hey! She could go and look at stuff for her baby's room! You could never start early enough with these things, right? Like choosing a crib and a couple of month later realising you didn't like that one after all. That won't happen if she started to look at available models now. Ha!

Chuckling from the other end of the phone brought Buffy back to reality, though.

"Hey, B, you still there?"

"Yeah. Uhm. Sorry, I got distracted," Buffy replied sheepishly. Now she just needed to find an excuse for calling Faith. "Oh, did you have a chance to talk to Eve and Sondra yet?"

Chuckling again, Faith replied, "Nice save."

"Dunno what you're talking about," Buffy said innocently.

Faith snorted. "Right. Anyway, the answer is yes. They are rather excited at the prospect of working for, and I quote, not just _The_ Slayer, but The _Incredible_ Slayer."

"They still haven't stopped calling me that?" Buffy groaned. She knew most new slayers considered her as some kind of celebrity, no matter how often she said she didn't want that. They just ignored her. When she had complained to Dawn about it, her sister had just shrugged her shoulders and told her to suck it up and live with it. Besides, it also meant they would do all the dirty jobs if Buffy asked them to, so why complain about it?

"Nope."

Buffy thought Faith sounded way too smug about it. Realisation dawning, she complained, "You're encouraging them!"

"Yep." Smiling broadly into the phone, Faith added, "Just making the best of the situation, you know."

Buffy just huffed and didn't grace her friend with a reply.

Not even being bothered by it, Faith continued, "Robin already started to transfer them to a local College. All they need is a permanent place to stay and they'll be ready to move within the week."

"Oh, good." A new thought entered Buffy's mind. A lovely new thought, actually. One that needed immediate action on and therefore prevented her from further phone calls. "I've been thinking."

"Ouch," Faith commented.

Too pleased with herself, Buffy chose to ignore her. "They could have my apartment. It's convenient for slaying and college as well. It was supposed to be an interim solution for me anyway. Now, with the baby, I'd rather find something more suitable, you know."

"That might work," Faith replied thoughtfully before she started to grin again. A fact that was clearly evident in her voice as she continued, "You just came up with it. Cause now you need to go and find another place. No time for more phone calls!"

"You're right. No more time. Things to do. See ya. Bye."

"Whoa! Wait, B," Faith interrupted quickly. "Look, neither I nor Robin will spill the beans. I'll make sure Sondra and Eve keep their mouths shut too. But they'll find out sooner or later anyway."

"Later sounds great," Buffy said with a weak smile.

Faith snorted again. "You've got till Christmas."

"But you promised!" Buffy exclaimed disappointed.

Shaking her head, Faith continued, "No matter where you are at Christmas, they'll be there too."

"Oh."

"Yep."

"Damn," Buffy announced whole-heartedly.

Snickering, Faith said rather hypocritical, "On second thought, I'll be there too. Watching the show and all."

There was a loud huff on the other end that was quickly cut off by the dial tone. Chuckling to herself, Faith put her phone down as well. And couldn't wait for the next time Buffy 'misdialled'.

--

_A/N: Sorry for the longer than expected delay! But I forgot to pack Muse when I left for my vacation. Turns out she's rather devious and resentful. So, while I was away, she let a certain Nas T. Cold into my apartment – who promptly ambushed me as soon as I returned. Go figure. Anyway, I finally got rid of Mr Cold and updates will be more frequent again! _


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

With his feet up on his desk, House leaned back into his chair and listened to his favourite music. A small smile played on his lips as he enjoyed the non-itchiness of all of his body parts. Unfortunately, he was the only one to appreciate the moment as his office door was thrown open rather forcefully.

"House!"

The only movement he allowed himself was to place a finger on his lips. "Shh!"

Rolling her eyes, Cuddy switched off his stereo, crossed the remaining distance between them and leaned onto his desk. "Fellows."

"Possible fellows," House corrected her, eyes still closed. Although, judging by the direction of her voice she was leaning over nicely and he should be able to have a good look at her chest. Still, he didn't want to tempt faith by moving and aggravating any of his … rashes. "Helping in the E.R., looking for a patient."

Okay, she couldn't argue with that. Too much. Besides, she was still in too good a mood so she let it pass. And there were other things. "You're behind you're clinic hours again."

Mentally shrugging his shoulders, House continued to grin. "Always am. Always will be. Get used to it."

Sighing, Cuddy let herself fall into a chair opposite House. "What's wrong."

"Nothing."

"You haven't moved since I entered. Not even opened an eye. Missing the opportunity for totally inappropriate comments," Cuddy explained, a slight note of worry in her voice.

"Wilson?" House asked impassively.

"Told me about the anti-histamines, yes."

"Gossipmonger."

"House, you're even still wearing those gloves," Cuddy challenged. "_And_ you're not using it to get out of the clinic. So something is definitely up!"

Ops. He should have thought of that. Stupid itching, as it had gotten worse it had interfered with his work-evading scheming! Later on he'd been so pleased that it had stopped that he had totally forgotten about it. This was bad. Really bad. "Nope. Just taking a nap."

"Show me your hands."

House waved at her, smirking.

Cuddy sighed. "Without the gloves."

He actually started to enjoy their little talk. He might not see her, but imagining they way she glared at him was entertaining too. "Nope."

"House."

"Cuddy."

"Hou-."

Whatever Cuddy was about to say was interrupted by the sound of her mobile. Ignoring House's complacent smirk, she answered rather abruptly. "Cuddy."

"Something wrong?" Buffy asked concerned. Okay, she had promised herself she wasn't going to phone again but at that time she had forgotten to mention a very important fact. Which she was about to rectify.

"Just House," Cuddy sighed while moving to the office door. She didn't want him to overhear the other half of the conversation but still liked to keep an eye on him. Just to be on the save side.

Noticeable perking up, Buffy replied, "That's why I'm calling."

"Really?" Her eyebrows visiting her hairline for a quick chat about this and that, Cuddy quickly looked towards House. "How come?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," Buffy started nonchalantly. "Breaking and entering while I was visiting you."

"What!?" Cuddy all but screamed, throwing a rather deadly glare towards House. Who, finally having opened his eyes to get the best chance of figuring out who Cuddy was talking to, actually had the grace to look slightly worried at receiving aforementioned glare. Even if it only lasted a second.

"No harm done," Buffy quickly assured her mother. "To me," she added mischievously.

"Huh?"

"Remember my friend Willow, the witch?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Cuddy replied, confusion still evident in her voice. Which, of course, piqued House's curiosity even more. He was now sitting up properly, eyeing Cuddy rather intensely.

"Well, after the break-in a month or so ago, Dawn decided I needed some more protection. So she and my other friend Xander came up with a whole set of ideas on how to protect the apartment better. Willow worked out the kinks and sent someone to set them up," Buffy explained amused.

"And that's funny, how?"

"I told them about House and his penchant for breaking into patients' apartments. I figured, no matter how careful I am, sooner or later he might get suspicious. So they added an extra layer."

"Okay," Cuddy drawled out slowly. "And that's funny?"

"Yep," Buffy said. "Dunno how it works exactly, but the spells used allow to distinguish between the intentions of the intruder. And act accordingly. So, House-snooping will get you a reaction you won't forget easily."

Throwing House a calculating look, taking in his still glove-covered hands and the fact that he had asked for anti-histamines, Cuddy slowly started to smile. "You know what?"

Chuckling, Buffy replied innocently, "Willow mentioned something like improved poison-ivy. Slower starting but just as easily spread by touching other body parts until you thoroughly wash your hands. Oh, and the rash is replaced by various colours, but is just as itchy as the original one. _'Making poison-ivy rash stop itching'_ stuff still works, though not for the colours."

Grinning like the cat the inherited the creamery, Cuddy slowly strolled towards House. Who raised his eyebrows questioningly. Phone still at her ear, Cuddy leaned in close and whispered seductively, "Take off the gloves."

Enjoying the view of her chest, he replied just as teasingly, "Three-some? On the phone? Cuddles! I never knew!"

Buffy barely managed to contain her laughter on the other side of the phone. As well as barely stopping a big _Eww!_ at his suggestion. House surely knew how to add sexual innuendo to any conversation he had with her mother.

Wait.

Did that mean?

No. Clearly not.

Lisa would have mentioned something like that. Wouldn't she?

Oh boy. They so needed to have another heart-to-heart talk!

Buffy was so deep in thought that she almost missed Lisa's sultry reply.

"Wishful thinking. Gloves off, now."

Looking her straight in the eyes, House complied. "Yes, mistress."

Cuddy rolled her eyes at his antics until she got a good look at his hands. His very, very red hands. Laughing out loud, her eyes lighting up with glee, Cuddy said, "That gives a completely new meaning to the expression _'being caught red-handed_', huh?!"

Too shocked by her reaction, House wasn't quick enough to catch her before she moved out of his reach and towards the door. Turning around, she grinned at him, "Clinic. Now."

Cuddy was long gone before House finally moved.

Her reaction was completely unexpected. He could have sworn any concern she showed before her phone rang had been replaced by mirth.

The corner of his mouth started to twitch.

There was more to it than it seemed. Another puzzle for him to solve.

Suddenly, today didn't seemed to be that bad after all.

--

"Buffy, hey! Wait!"

Okay, so much for keeping a low profile. Stopping, Buffy turned around and waited for Allison to catch up with her.

Catching her breath, Allison took her time to give her a once over. "You look good."

"Thanks," Buffy replied while walking towards the cafeteria again. "But I still prefer to drive stick. And I thought you were too?"

"Huh?" Allison asked confused. "What do you- … oh!"

Chuckling at her friend's red face, Buffy apologised, "Sorry, couldn't resist."

Allison smirked. "Spending too much time with House already?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I'm his physiotherapist. It's inevitable."

"There's that," she replied thoughtfully. "How did you manage that anyway?"

"He tolerates me. _And_ he hasn't figured me out."

Allison nodded. "That's House for you. Anyway, how's your side? Should you be back at work already?"

"I'm good. Clean bill of health and all," Buffy replied a bit too cheerful. Luckily, it was her turn to order her lunch so she had an excuse to not elaborate on it.

Thoughtfully observing her friend eat, Allison finally asked, "What's up."

Looking up, Buffy shrugged her shoulder, going with the 'I don't know what you mean' routine. Or, even better, the 'stop asking' routine. Allison, of course, didn't do her either favour. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Buffy contemplated not telling her but finally relented. So she told Allison about her baby and even added her struggle of calling her family. Her reasons behind it. Well, some of it, anyway.

By the end of their lunch time, Buffy had to admit that she was already feeling better. That even the little pieces finally started to fall into place. That, once again, she had started to re-built her life. And, that this time, the Scoobies weren't the main focus. If she was honest, the slow process of, figuratively speaking, cutting the cord from the Scoobies had already started while she was living with Mark. Now it simply became more pronounced.

Most importantly, it felt right.

They were always going to play important roles in her life, they were her family after all, but she was also living her own life.

Faith, however, never really belonged to the inner circle. Which made it so much easier to confide in her and built a strong friendship. They knew neither of them was perfect and they finally accepted it. Just as Allison didn't expect her to be perfect. Or to have a solution for every difficult situation.

It was something, Buffy suddenly realised, Dawn had already worked out a while ago.

Buffy smiled. Dawn had always been a smart girl.

Maybe she'd place one call to Europe tonight after all.

--

Dr Marmine wasn't all that happy. Since Monday he had heard nothing but praise about Summers. How she had prevented a robbery on hospital grounds and even got injured in the process. As she had been back today, only a few days after the incident, he couldn't even reprimand her for slacking off. In fact, she could easily have stayed off work for another few days due to her injuries.

Worse, he just had another talk with that useless Dr Wilson. How difficult could it be to drive a wedge between Summers and Dr House? He already had more than enough information at his disposal than he should need!

He really needed something more before telling his fiancée about Summers. Heather might not have done more than sent the occasional Christmas card to her brother Mark, but then Mark hadn't been too bothered with those things either. According to Heather he had only sent a couple of them in the past 5 years or so. Still, the older Heather became, the more she longed to have children but also to reconcile with her brother.

That's why he had been so keen on bringing Mark back to the US. If it meant to employ Mark's girlfriend, fine. She had seemed to know enough about her profession after all. It would have made Heather happy.

Of course, now that Mark was dead, telling Heather Mark's girlfriend was working for him wasn't going to go down well. Too much reminders of what could have been. Especially so shortly after they found out about her infertility.

No, the best thing he could do was to get rid of Buffy Summers.

It might not be as easy as he had hoped, but he would find a way.

For Heather's benefit.

--

Making sure nobody was around, House quickly entered the men's restroom.

Sighing when the pressure on his bladder finally decreased, he didn't even hear when someone else entered the room. By the time Mr Unwanted – House couldn't be bothered to check if he knew the person – reached his side, it was too late to stop and tuck himself away again. Besides, there were enough empty urinals around, so why choose the one next to him?

Bastard.

"Dr House," Kutner greeted him cheerfully. "There might be an interesting patient for us."

Great. Did Kutner expect him to jump with joy now? To voice his resentment, House simply grumbled incomprehensible in reply.

Kutner, however, wasn't bothered by it. He accidentally glanced over – just to gauge House's general mood of course – when he caught sight of him. It.

"Whoa!" Kutner announced at the sight in front of him. And made a mess around his urinal in the process. Readjusting his target, he added admirably, "I've never seen anything like that!"

Rolling his eyes, House finished off and walked to the sinks. "Well, not everybody can play in the big league."

Waving the comment off, Kutner joined House. "How did you do that?"

"No milk, no fruits and vegetables, lots of beer," House snarled. "And suddenly it was all grown up."

Ignoring the sarcasm in House's voice, Kutner probed enthusiastically, "No really. How'd you get it rainbow coloured? I bet the chicks love it!"

If it wouldn't itch every time the histamines were wearing off, he'd already have the answer to that. Unfortunately, with the itching only being contained by medications he didn't exactly feel like adding extra friction to it. Or to all the other multi-coloured parts of his body. As he wasn't going to tell Kutner this, House ignored him and instead called over his shoulder as he left the restroom. "Patient's file. My office."

He'd go an visit Wilson for a while.

And thanked that what- or whoever was responsible for his current multi-coloured state had left his head alone.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

House looked at his hands in relief. The colouring was back to normal. Okay, it might be the only part where it was and the itching was still there, but it was a start. Even better, the patient Kutner had talked about was, after a short night's sleep, indeed interesting. Which meant he had more games to play. Smiling, despite the early hour, he went to the small lecture theatre to meet up with the remaining prospective fellows.

However, just before entering the room, Cuddy stepped into his way.

Well, into his field of vision and he thought a couple more minutes weren't going to kill the patient.

Or he'd be paged, anyway.

Nope. No pager going off just yet.

"Morning," he greeted her, pointedly shoving his watch into her face. Almost, in any case. "I'm on time. Should get me extra brownie points."

Smirking, Cuddy pointed at his hands. "They look better. How about-" not even trying to contain her grin, she motioned towards his crotch. "- the other body parts?"

Eyes opening comically wide, House could only gasp. "How did you know?"

Her eyes twinkling with mischief, Cuddy leaned in close and whispered, "I've got my sources."

Patting his shoulder, she quickly walked past him and continued to her office, throwing him another grin over her shoulder. In fact, she and Buffy had spent the previous night guessing where House might have touched himself before getting the spell off of his hands. As, according to Willow, it was pretty sticky stuff, they had wondered if he had needed to pee before it indeed had worn off – and ended up in a giggling fit.

And his reaction to her question had given her the answer. She couldn't wait to share the news with Buffy.

--

Buffy was happily munching on her second lunch when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her favourite Grumpy Cane Guy enter the cafeteria. He was followed by his remaining fellows – and another doctor she hadn't seen before.

Turning her chair slightly so she had a better view, she got comfortable, anticipating some kind of show.

She didn't have to wait too long either. Just as she was taking another hearty bite from her Reuben sandwich – damn House for hooking her onto them – he got up onto a chair and told everyone how the last mayonnaise batch bought by their kitchen had gone off. Yeah, right. Looking at her sandwich while most of the other customers stood up to leave and head for the clinic as House had suggested, Buffy shrugged her shoulders and took another bite.

It _was_ House, after all.

As he looked into her direction, she gave him a smirk and a quick wave with her hand. However, before he could do more than grin back, the other doctor spoke up, telling everybody that the mayonnaise was fine. Rolling his eyes at her, House turned back and assured everybody he was the one to listen to.

Shaking her head, Buffy continued to eat while watching him interact with his fellows. Thanks to her slayer hearing, she was able to hear every single word spoken and had to admit that just watching House was more entertaining than most TV shows she knew. Tilting her head, she watched the new doctor more closely and figured he and House must have known each other for quite some time.

Could it really be? Realisation dawning, she couldn't help but grin even more. The last former fellow had come back. He fit the description Allison had given her and he was clearly not intimidated by House. Yep, House had all of his ducklings back in the same pond.

Together with the effects from Willow's spell it gave her enough material to avoid any questions she didn't want to answer in their physio session later today.

She hoped.

Rubbing her hands together in glee, Buffy quickly finished of the remaining fries before leaving the almost empty cafeteria to check her emails before seeing her next patient.

Only to run straight into House. Literally.

"Hey, you alright?" Dr Foreman, well, the guy she supposed to be Dr Foreman, asked from where he was standing next to House.

"Yeah, thanks," Buffy replied, giving him a dazzling smile. "Just didn't expect Mr Grumpy here standing right in front of the cafeteria doors."

Raising his eyebrows, House smirked at her, "Aren't you worried about food poisoning? I've heard they had some trouble with their mayonnaise."

"Plea-ease," Buffy drawled out. "You need to practice on the lying thing."

Okay, that was a lie – no pun intended - but it also was too good a comment to ignore. Especially as House was the one on the receiving end of it.

He just glared at her for daring to label him as a bad liar for a second or two. Then he tilted his head and shook a finger at her.

Foreman, however, snorted and offered Buffy his hand, "Hi, I'm Dr Eric Foreman. It's _really_ nice to meet you."

Quickly tucking Buffy's hand back as soon as she made contact with Foreman's, House leaned over and stage-whispered rather conspiratorially, "Careful! Don't want him to snatch something from you. Or him adding another bun to the oven!"

Huffing, Buffy slapped House's arm – harder than she normally would. When he started to rub it, she glared at him with squinted eyes. "Watch it! Or feeling a bit _off-colour_ might be the least of your problems."

Chuckling, Foreman offered Buffy his arm. "Can I get you something? Coffee? Tea?"

"Chocolate?" Buffy asked hopefully after checking how much time she had until her next patient. Thanks to her injury her work schedule was still lighter than it usually would be, giving her frequent breaks. Despite her being completely healed already.

"Sure. Anything for a speechless House," Foreman said, pointing at House who looked funnily at Buffy.

Buffy questioningly raised her eyebrows at House once she saw the way he was looking at her. As he didn't react, she shrugged her shoulders. "Lead the way," she told Foreman and quickly followed him.

In his mind, House was trying to figure out _if_ she knew. And if so, _how_ she knew.

Not bothering to acknowledge Buffy and Foreman leaving, he thoughtfully made his way to his office. Just as he was about to enter, another thought crossed his mind.

Maybe his colour-rash had something to do with him breaking into her apartment. He just _had_ to know how she had done this. A trick like that would be fantastic. All the possibilities coming with it! Smirking, he walked around his desk, moving the newly arrived letters onto the ever growing pile in his inbox. Technically, it was his outbox but he had put a plain sticker over the 'out' and written 'in' in big, bold letters onto it.

Throwing his thinking ball repeatedly against the wall, he kept wondering. If Buffy knew about him breaking and entering, wouldn't she be pissed at him? Yet, her behaviour towards him hadn't changed at all.

Weird. Well, he would be prepared for the later physio session.

--

Walking towards the nurses' desk, Buffy threw nurse Brenda a questioning look. Guessing what Buffy wanted, Brenda pointed towards the examination room she knew House to be in. In times like this, she really wished to be the proverbial fly on the wall. The notorious Dr House and The Chosen One - the most successful and powerful Slayer for a long time at that, if the rumours were right – just _had_ to be a true sight.

Meanwhile, Buffy entered the room without knocking. She had concentrated and listened in on the room in front of her and decided House was the only one there.

"Hey!" House promptly protested from his place on the examination table. "I could have been with a patient!"

"Yeah, sure," Buffy snorted.

"Despite common believe, I actually do treat the dim-witted," House protested, putting his hand-held video game away.

"Sometimes," Buffy added casually.

"Can't have them infect me with stupidity. Who's going to treat the real patients then?" House challenged with a raised eyebrow.

"Whatever." Buffy rolled her eyes. Starting to tap her foot, she added grinning, "What's with the jeans? Caught stupidity after all and need help with removing them?"

"Ah," House answered patronisingly, "You see, I've got this rash. Wouldn't want you to catch anything. With the parasite and all."

Tapping her chin with her finger, Buffy pretended to think about it. "Ha!" She suddenly announced, looking like she just had the most brilliant idea ever. "Wouldn't Dr Cuddy have relieved you from treating patients if she thought you were contagious? And wouldn't _you_ have used it to the same extend?"

"Didn't want to cause any trouble," House answered innocently.

Buffy snorted. "Yeah, right." Pointing to his jeans before crossing her arms in front of her chest, she added, "I'm waiting."

Mimicking her posture, House smirked. "Have fun."

"Coward."

"Hey!" House protested.

"What?" Buffy asked with raised eyebrows. "You mentioned the fun-having thingy!"

"Calling me a coward is not fun," House hissed.

"Yes it is," Buffy replied, emphasising her words by nodding. "Big time."

"Whatever," House said annoyed. How come she managed to annoy him when that is what he intended to do with her? He'd have to change that. Quickly. "In case you haven't heard, a rash often comes with itching. Touching the rash will increase said itching and cause scratching. Scratching will aggravate the rash even more and it will get worse." Taking a breath he added rather menacingly, "Massaging equals both touching and scratching."

Knowing exactly what House was doing, Buffy didn't even bat an eyelash. Instead she raised her eyebrows again. "Wimp."

"Wha-!" He couldn't believe it. She _dared_ to ignore him! That was just so wrong! House huffed. Fine. Taking off his shoes first, he angrily pushed his jeans down and took them off. "There. Have it your way."

All Buffy wanted to do was shout in triumph. She had actually managed to unnerve him. Worse, seeing the different colours running up and down his legs didn't make it easier to keep a completely straight face. But she managed to. Just. "See, that wasn't that difficult," Buffy said in a voice one would use on a child.

House just sulked. His stupid action of pushing down his jeans rather fast had already started the itching anew. He really should have known better than to act on his male pride. Still, he watched her closely as she calmly opened her bag and got towels and different bottles out.

Smiling cheerfully, Buffy said, "Hope you're not allergic to nuts? Cause I've got this lovely new massage oil. Peanut flavour."

If he wouldn't have needed all willpower he possessed to stop himself from scratching, House would surely have made an appropriate comment. However, he just couldn't be bothered right now, so he only huffed again.

Taking the smallest of her bottles, Buffy squirted a generous amount onto her hand and started to gently rub it into his leg.

It took a while for him to catch onto the fact that she had neither made a comment on the colours nor was the itching as bad as it had been only minutes before. Not to mention his muscles easing up as they always did with Buffy's treatment. Lifting his head, he looked at her curiously.

Smiling knowingly, she took the small bottle again, squirted some more of the slightly nutty smelling oil onto her hand and rubbed it into his healthy leg. At the same time Willow had sent someone to set up the wards on her apartment door, she had also send along aforementioned oil to counteract the itching of the special _House_-wardens.

Once Buffy was done covering both his legs, she got her usual stuff out and started with the routine House already was familiar with. After several minutes of silence, he said just one word. "How?"

Smiling secretly, Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "You know the rules. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"You aren't mad," he stated curiously.

"Nope," Buffy replied. "I've been expecting it. Asked for a bit of help." Her eyes lighting up with mischief, she added, "And I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome!"

"Sneaky, devious and very inventive," House replied, a slow smile playing along his lips. "Any chance of getting some of that for myself?"

"Other than the rash?" Buffy asked innocently. Upon House's nod, she shook her head. "Nope."

"Damn."

Lying back down again, House crossed his arms, a smirk still on his lips. Waiting for a minute, he tried again, "You sure?"

Buffy giggled. "Pretty." Cleaning her hands on a towel, she leaned closer. "Time for a new exercise."

"Sex?" House asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Cuddy's in a meeting," Buffy replied without thinking. Realising what she'd just said, she stopped in mid-motion. "I didn't just say that, did I?" she asked House, looking horrified.

His grin ever growing, House nodded. "You did."

Pacing up and down in front of the examination bed, Buffy said more to herself, "Bad, Buffy. Bad. Bad, bad, bad."

"I like it," House said, sitting up and smirking maliciously at her. "I'll make sure Cuddles learns about your innovative therapy ideas."

"Great, why don't you just shoot me straight away," Buffy said pitifully. "Save me from further embarrassment."

House pretended to think for a minute before shaking his head. "Nope. Keeping promising therapies from the Dean of Medicine? That would be just_ so_ wrong."

Damn. When staring him down didn't seem to work, Buffy held up a peace offering. "I'll give you the rest of the make-House-stop-itching oil?"

House was about to shake his head, so Buffy quickly added, "The effect will wear off in a few hours. And the rash takes about a week to clear up."

Looking at her open expression, he figured the last bit wasn't a lie. As much as he'd love to tell this story to Cuddy, he wouldn't mind being able to stop the itching sooner rather than later. Decisions, decision. Finally, comfort won out. By the smallest possible margin. "Good," he agreed.

Handing over the oil, Buffy sighed in relief. Her mother so wouldn't appreciate her meddling. Oh boy. She just hoped House would keep his words. As there was nothing else she could do about it, she figured busying herself was the best way to forget about it. Well, push it to the back of her mind anyway.

"Right," she started, relief obvious in her voice. "Back to the actual exercise I had in mind."

"Oh no," House said, shaking his head. "That session is done and over with."

"We've still got half an hour," Buffy protested. "Besides, they will really help."

"Nope."

"House."

"Buffy," he replied, grinning. "I just care. You shouldn't work hard at least until the stitches are out."

That caught her off-guard. "They are just fine," Buffy pouted.

"Okay, let me have a look," House challenged.

"I said they are fine," Buffy insisted. Showing him would open a whole new can of worms she so could do without.

"Coward," he said, throwing her earlier comment back at her.

"Fine." Starting to stuff her things back into her back, she said, "No exercise and no Buffy checking out for you."

That got his attention. Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked at her sharply. "Let me see."

Pouting, she rolled her eyes. "Cuddy had a look before letting me back to work. Happy?"

Not waiting for a reply, she quickly opened the door and left.

--

"What have we got?" Allison asked as she put on a fresh set of gloves.

"Barbeque fork accident," the paramedic told her. "Got him right in the neck."

* * *

_A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews!_


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

The next morning, Cuddy was sitting at home drinking her morning coffee, grinning. She just wished she could actually be there. Watch House's reaction. However, just thinking about it made the giggles bubble up in her chest.

Actually, the laxatives had been Buffy's idea. As revenge to the mayonnaise stunt House had pulled in the cafeteria. To be honest, she would never have thought of it herself. To implement it, that is. Cuddy had only wondered out loud what would happen if they'd switch House's Vicodin with something else. And she'd mainly said it to cheer Buffy up, really.

Buffy had been then suggested the laxatives _and_ convinced her to go through with it. House really deserved it, after all. So, just before leaving last night, Cuddy had gone into House's office and switched his pills. With a smiling Buffy keeping watch. At least that part of the plan had worked out already.

All she had to do now was to go into work and wait.

--

A short while later Buffy was standing outside the hospital. Despite having House taken care off by those lovely laxatives, conveniently switched with his office stash of Vicodin. After yesterday, she simply didn't want to cross his path today.

Looking at her watch, she sighed. She really needed to go in. Now. Glaring at her feet, she told them to go. Of course, they didn't listen. Stupid appendages. Worse, by now she probably looked rather stupid just standing on the same spot for ages.

Sighing, she tried again. "Come on, feet. I'm ready. Sort of, anyway. Get going. Now."

"Buffy?" A confused voice asked her from behind. "Are you alright?"

Looking up, Buffy blushed brightly. "Allison, hi," she said sheepishly.

"What's wrong?" Allison asked, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing, really," Buffy said, taking a deep breath. "Just some trouble with my feet."

"Huh?" Allison asked puzzled. Looking down, she added, "They look fine to me."

"Yeah, well. They were cold." At Allison's questioning eyebrows, Buffy added, "I was having cold feet, okay?"

Realisation dawning, Allison grinned. "Interesting way to put it. So, what's wrong?"

Buffy sighed. "Nothing, really. Hormones, probably." House, actually. He had come a bit too close for comfort the previous day.

"Maybe you should go and see your doctor?" Allison asked, back to being concerned.

"Uh, yeah."

"Buffy?" Allison looked at her in shock. "You've got a doctor, right?"

"Kinda?" Buffy offered. "House did an ultrasound, prescribed me some vitamins and stuff."

Shaking her head, Allison grabbed her elbow. "Come on, I'll take you up to obstetrics."

Letting herself be let into the hospital – ha, cold feet, take that – Buffy shook her head. "There's no need to, really. I've got another few weeks till the next check-up."

"Still."

Putting on her best smile, Buffy quickly shook her head. "I'm muchos betteros already, see? Oh, look! It's late, I need to be going."

"Muchos betteros?" Allison asked grinning. "You sure have an interesting way of speaking sometimes."

"Oh, that's nothing!" Buffy said, mimicking her friend's grin. "You should have listened to one of our old Scooby-meetings. Mom always left the room once we really started, heading straight for the Tylenol."

"Scooby? As in the comics?"

"Yeah. It's just some close friends. One of them, Xander, nick-named us and it kinda stuck. Anyway, I really need to go. Talk to you later!" Buffy said, leaving Allison to look after her with a weird expression on her face.

"So much for telling her about the barbeque fork accident last night," Allison mumbled to herself. Shrugging her shoulders, she turned and went into the ER.

Buffy, having overheard the barbeque fork accident comment, stopped mid-motion. She couldn't believe it. First the ugly Spandex-demon thingy, now vampires in _her_ hospital! Sighing, she turned around and went after Allison. No matter how much she wanted to, she just couldn't let it pass. "Allison, wait!"

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Allison turned around. "Buffy? I thought you had to leave?"

"Yeah, well," Buffy said cheerfully. "I just figured there might be enough time to hear the barbeque fork story."

"Huh? How did you know?" Allison asked confused.

Oops. She could hardly say she had just overheard Allison mumbling to herself. She had been a teeny tiny bit too far away for that, after all. But overhearing is good. Yep. "I heard a couple of nurses mentioning it?"

"Outside the hospital?"

Oops.

Again.

"They were chatting about it while passing me?" Buffy finally offered with a weak smile.

Furrowing her brow, Allison let it go. The nurses around did like to chat, after all. Not only in the hospital but on their way to and from work as well. "It was kinda funny, actually. Last night, that poor guy was more or less carried in by his friends, holding his neck. When I took off the bandage they'd applied to the wound to have a look, I found two perfect holes next to each other, both of them bleeding quite heavily."

Buffy looked up in alarm. That didn't sound too good. At all. The friends must have interrupted the vamps, though. Or there wouldn't have been much bleeding. "What did you do? Did he survive?" She asked nervously. Having a fledgling hanging out in the morgue, no matter how unlikely it was as he'd still been alive when the vampires left, wouldn't be of the good.

Looking at her funnily, Allison nodded. "Yes, of course. They managed to do quite a bit of damage with the barbeque fork, but we were eventually able to stop the bleeding."

"Barbeque fork?" Buffy asked confused.

"They were having a barbeque and just fooling around with the fork. Until it ended up in the poor guys neck. I mean, they were so shocked, they applied pressure to the wound, loaded the guy into their car and drove him right here. One of his friends was still holding the bloody fork in his hands."

"Huh? You mean there really was a barbeque fork accident?" Buffy asked surprised. There might have been tons of _barbeque fork accidents_ in Sunnydale, but she couldn't think of a single one actually involving an actual fork in the first place.

"Yes," Allison said carefully. Why would she doubt her story? "Buffy, are you sure you're alright? You looked rather pale for a while."

Shaking her head to clear it, Buffy nodded absently. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry."

"What's going on?" A new voice asked at the same time.

Oh crap. That wasn't good, Buffy thought. Putting on a smile she looked up. "Nothing."

"Dr Cuddy!" Allison greeted her friendly. "I was just telling Buffy about a patient last night."

"Barbeque fork accident," Buffy said darkly. Before her mother could reply though, she added, "With an actual barbeque fork."

Allison looked confused between the two women. She could have sworn that the second Buffy had mentioned the barbeque fork, Cuddy had started to pale. Just like Buffy had before. Yet, upon mentioning there was an actual fork involved, her colouring went back to normal.

Odd.

"Anyway," Buffy said, "I need to go. See you later."

"Lunch?" Allison asked quickly before Buffy was out of hearing range. She needed to learn more.

Turning back, Buffy nodded. "Sure."

"Uh," Cuddy started, thinking of something to ask that would explain her being here. Other than having gotten a glimpse of Buffy and coming to investigate. "Have you seen House?"

--

Sighing heavily, Buffy picked up her bag and left the shared office. It had been a long day and all she wanted to do now was to go home and relax. With lots of chocolate. Unfortunately, being preoccupied with her plans for the night, she didn't see House step up to her.

However, when he grabbed her arm he quickly found himself pinned against the wall.

Eyes opening comically wide as she realised what had happened, Buffy quickly released him. "Uh … Sorry?"

House, flabbergasted at the speed with which he had found himself against the wall just stared at Buffy.

Trying to smooth out his shirt where she had grabbed him, Buffy avoided looking into his face. "It's your fault, really. Doing the cane-less walk without warning!"

Shaking his head as if to clear it, House kept staring at her. "I left it on the bench over there," he finally said. "Didn't have time to grab it when I saw you."

Finally giving up on his crinkled shirt, it was probably that way when he put it on this morning anyway, Buffy decided to stay in the offensive. "Yeah, well. A warning would have been of the good. Grab Buffy first, warn her later isn't really nice, you know."

"About that, how did you-?" House asked, motioning between himself and the wall.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Adrenalin?" She offered weakly. "Besides, every girl should know a bit of self-defence."

"A bit? I could have sworn my feet were dangling above the ground for a couple of seconds there!" House said astonished, motioning frantically between himself and the innocent looking wall.

Laughing nervously, Buffy touched his forehead. "Nope. Normal temperature. I could've sworn you said I've lifted you off the ground, though." Patting his arm, she added patronising, "Must've been the shock or something."

Watching her with squinted eyes, he finally shook his head. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there definitely was something off with this situation – other than her fast reflexes, that is. Well, she had proven her ability to fight before, which might explain her surprising him. Still.

Remembering why he had wanted to stop her in the first place, he took her arm again and tried to pull her back towards his cane.

"Uh, House?" Buffy asked alarmed.

"I want you to meet somebody," House said in answer to her question. Muttering to himself, he added, "That should be interesting."

Raising her eyebrows at House's last comment, one she was sure wasn't meant for her ears either, Buffy let him pull her towards the elevators. A few minutes later they apparently reached their destination as House stopped in front of a patient's room. Opening the door, he motioned her inside.

Rolling her eyes at him, Buffy nevertheless followed his silent request. Inside was a single bed, occupied by an average looking, middle aged man. Frowning, Buffy turned back to House and ask flippantly, "What's with the what? Need help with the diagnose making?"

"Nope." House shook his head. "Buffy, meet Mr… , well, I might tell you once he remembers," House continued instead of giving her a real explanation.

Buffy greeted the man, giving him a short wave, "Hi." As she turned to House, she saw him studying both her and the patient with open curiosity. Frowning, she looked at the patient again. "Bye," she added almost immediately and stepped towards the door. She wasn't in the mood for one of House's stupid games.

"What's with the what?" The patient repeated her previous question, grinning and waving at both of them.

House raised his eyebrows and smirked when Buffy stopped mid-motion and slowly turned around. His patient had mimicked her almost perfectly.

House wondered briefly if he could make a bit of money out of him. Charge admission or something. As, thanks to the Mirror Syndrome he was suffering from, the patient was able to mimic the behaviour of the, to him anyway, most appealing or most dominant appearing person in the room. In that, he also showed an astonishing ability to read and correctly interpret even the smallest change in the behaviour or the expression of said person. Damn, he must be a hell of a poker player with that ability, House thought.

"House," Buffy growled, rudely interrupting his thoughts. She was so not in the mood for one of his stupid games.

"I'm tired," the patient said almost immediately, suddenly sounding defeated.

Buffy looked baffled. Where did the sudden mood change come from? And what was that with the triumphant grin on House's face? Tiredness forgotten for a moment, suspicion came back full force. This was House, after all.

The patient tilted his head, looking between the two of them. Glaring at House, he asked suspiciously, "Another round of fun-of-Buffy-making?"

This time, Buffy jumped. This was way too creepy for her comfort. Crossing her arms in front of her, she glared at House. The patient mimicked her pose once again. "House," the patient growled before Buffy could say anything. "Yeah. What he said," she added, her tone matching the patient's.

Seeing House's grin only spread across his face, Buffy sighed deeply and looked down. Slowly shaking her head, she closed her eyes for a second before looking straight into his. "Find another playmate. I'm too tired for this."

Turning around, she left the room without another word. House furrowed his eyebrows. This time, Buffy had sounded as defeated as the patient had several minutes back. Looking at him again, he saw a single tear running down the patient's cheek.

Huffing, House left the room.

Back in his office, he took up his thinking ball once more and thought about the meeting in the patient's room.

In fact, he hadn't expected the patient to take on Buffy's personality but wanted to see her react to another person with his own attitude. However, once the guy had started mimicking Buffy, he couldn't find anything wrong with that either. After all, he already knew that there was much more to Buffy than the almost Valley Girl like personality she chose to show to most people.

What had caught him off-guard though was the defeat in Buffy's voice just before she had left. When the patient had said he was tired, he'd figured he might have slipped back to House, as his leg was hurting like a bitch and he _was_ tired himself. But as soon as Buffy uttered the same words, he knew he had been wrong.

That was another thing. Just when he thought he had figured Buffy out, she surprised him again. Just how many layers did this girl have?

Looks like it was time for the really big guns.

Smirking, he picked up his phone and dialled. "Cameron? This is House. What was the name of that slimy politician from a couple of years ago? Kid had gotten himself sick by snooping around and he came to us crying when the idiots in L.A. couldn't figure out what was wrong?"

House threw his ball against the wall while waiting for Cameron's answer.

And, just as he'd imagined, it didn't take her long to figure out who he meant.

Putting the phone down – without thanking her or answering her question as to why he wanted to know it – House threw his ball against the wall again.

And smirked.

After that, it didn't take him long to find the information he needed. Picking up his phone, he dialled another number. Pulling a very sad face – he always found it gave an extra notch to his fake sad-voice - he quickly managed to convince the, probably blond and good-racked-but-dumb secretary of Mr. I'm-such-an-important-Politician to put him through.

Only ten minutes and a sad story later, he had the promise of someone looking into any information they had on one Buffy Summers and sending them to him straight away. Juvenile records or not.

--

_A/N: I'm going with the episode here, even though the correctness of the 'Mirror Syndrome' described in the House episode 'Mirror, Mirror' is rather controversial. But as this is my story, lets just say it is an established illness – and works the way I tried to describe – rather than it being only a one-case study!_

_Anyway, thanks for all the reviews again! As usual, they simply make my day and are highly appreciated! I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, but have hopefully past the most difficult bit now. Especially as there are interesting things still to come and I just want Muse to get to those juicy bits! I mean, just think of what kind of information House could get his hands on! Hehe._


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

A couple of weeks later she entered her shared office, deep in thought.

"Miss Summers," an icy voice greeted her. "You are late."

Wincing, Buffy suddenly remembered the meeting she was supposed to have with Dr Marmine. Looking at her watch, she realised she wasn't more than five minutes late. Which was at least something. "Sorry," she offered politely.

"I shall add an appropriate comment to your file," Dr Marmine replied in a condescending voice. "Now, if you would follow me to my office, please."

Putting her bag down, Buffy nodded. It's not like he was giving her a choice.

Once inside, he pointed to a chair in the corner, telling her to bring it over to his desk and have a seat. Rolling her eyes, Buffy lifted the chair up easily and carried it over. Stupid git. Not only wanted Marmine to see her struggle - judging by the weight of the chair anyway - but he also made her think in Spike-speech!

Buffy grumbled quietly to herself. Because, really, all she could do was to make sure she made a clear point of just how effortlessly she actually moved the chair to the appointed space. There, take that!

"Sit," Marmine said, a small note of disappointment in his voice. "As you know, it is time for your progress report."

This was going to be fun, Buffy thought. Suppressing the flippant comment insisting on making an entrance into this world, Buffy just nodded.

"Good," Marmine started unemotionally. "Let's start."

It was torture. Pure and simple torture.

Listening to Marmine droning on and on about this and that. He managed to only fleetingly mention any praise she had received but instead focused on the few times she had been criticised.

In the end Buffy tuned his voice out and instead listened to the steady heart-beat of her unborn baby. She was so pre-occupied by the sound, that she missed the end of Marmine's monologue completely.

Oops.

"Miss Summers!" Dr Marmine shouted. "Have you been listening at all?"

If it had been House or her mother, she would most certainly have blushed at being caught dreaming. But Marmine? He had yet to show her any kind of respect. Therefore, she just shrugged her shoulders unapologetically. "Must have dozed off. Groundhog Day usually does that to me."

Squinting his eyes, Marmine threw her an incredulous look. "What?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. Mentally, of course. "The movie? Guy lives through Groundhog Day over and over again? Until he fixes his life? Well, his hair is still off but you can't have everything."

"What the hell has this to do with here and now?" Marmine asked, confusion still suppressing his anger at being ignored. Just about.

"You seemed to repeat the same thing over and over again," Buffy replied matter-of-factly. It's not like she could get into more trouble than she was already anyway. "Only without the fixing it part."

Anger finally boiling over, Marmine turned bright red. "That has … that has to be the most _disrespectful_ thing I've ever heard!"

"It's the truth," Buffy replied, eyeing him calmly. "You're supposed to teach me. Help me improve. Yet all you seem to be doing is throwing stones in my way, waiting for me to stumble over them. And when I do, you gloat openly."

"That … that's ridiculous!" Marmine spluttered.

"I agree," Buffy said coldly. "You behave like a stubborn child whose favourite toy has been broken."

Putting his hands on his desk, Marmine pushed himself up and leaned towards Buffy. "I'll make sure the head of this program hears about this – and acts accordingly!" Sitting back down, he intertwined his hands in front of him. "Oh, wait! That's me!"

Buffy could only roll her eyes at his power play. Not doing him the favour of being intimidated at all, she raised her eyebrow as if to ask 'So what?'.

Grinning evilly, Marmine continued, "You're fired."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Based on what accounts?"

"What? On what accounts?" he asked incredulously, his voice rising higher with each word.

"Yes. You might be the program coordinator, but even you have to answer to others."

Marmine couldn't believe it. There she was, sitting calmly in front of him as if she hadn't just lost her job. Worse, she didn't even take him seriously. Well, two could play this game. "Fine," he said almost pleasantly. "How does badmouthing your superior sound?"

"Nasty," Buffy said in mock-shock. Marmine smiled. Smiling sweetly, Buffy added, "Got any witnesses?"

"What?" He squeaked. Marmine actually squeaked.

Buffy frowned. "You say that a lot, you know." Crossing her arms, she added, "Anyway, I've always been polite. You, however, have behaved quite, well … unpleasant in public."

"Excuse me?"

"Cafeteria, a few weeks back?" Buffy asked innocently.

Marmine huffed. He had to admit that she would at least get the benefit of a doubt if he brought up this particular accusation. Despite it being a valid one. And she knew it. "Fine," he snarled. "What about lying to get out of an assignment." When Buffy just raised an questioning eyebrow, he added, "You being unable to watch a simple DVD due to an alleged break-in into your apartment?"

"Oh, that," Buffy said with a dismissive hand gesture. "I'll just bring in the police report. Oh, in case you're interested, the thieves have been caught last week. Didn't get any of my stuff back, though."

This time, Marmine's mouth might have formed a reply, but no sound came out of his mouth. Shaking himself – and closing his mouth, he stared back at her. She _must_ be bluffing. There was no other way. But there she sat, smiling pleasantly back at him.

"Fine," he growled. "Underachievement. If you'd have been listening earlier you would know there've been several complaints about your performance."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Fair enough."

Marmine smiled maliciously. He finally had her.

However, thoughtfully tapping her chin, Buffy continued innocently, "Hey! Maybe they'll tell me how to improve instead of simply telling me I've done it wrong? That'd be nice, don't you think?"

Marmine actually screamed. Well, he let out a frustrated shout. But Buffy figured it counted as a scream. She just wished – silently, of course – she could have a recording of this conversation as she was rather proud of it herself. She hadn't even touched him – yet she was the clear victor.

And, judging by his crestfallen face, Marmine knew it. Folding her hands in her lap, Buffy figured now was the perfect time for the final blow in his attempt to get her thrown out of the program.

"Is that all?" She asked.

"For now," Marmine growled darkly. "But don't think this is over yet."

"Of course not," Buffy replied offended. "Where would be the fun in that?"

Getting up, she effortlessly carried the heavy chair back to his original place, smiling at Marmine when his expression darkened even more. Her hand at the door knob, she turned around to deliver that final blow.

"By the way," she said politely. "I'm kind of pregnant."

Closing the door behind her, she chuckled when she heard a loud thumb.

It sounded distinctively like a head hitting a desk.

Inside his office, Dr Marmine was absently rubbing the spot where his forehead had met his desk. Groaning, he leaned back into his chair, closing his eyes.

There was no way he could get rid of her now. Normally, her calling him names would bring him more than one step closer to aforementioned goal. But she had been right, who wouldn't give her the benefit of a doubt? Yes, her performance wasn't perfect but, he had to admit, it wasn't worse than that of any of the other candidates. And this was a teaching program, so imperfection was to be expected.

Worse, she was pregnant. Human resources – and the Dean of Medicine – were rather reluctant to prematurely end a contract with any pregnant staff. Too much bad publicity involved. Which meant he now needed much more ammunition to get rid of her.

Frowning, he checked his calendar and started counting backwards. Mark died about thirteen weeks ago. So she was either at least thirteen weeks pregnant or had started sleeping around shortly after his death.

A cruel smile started to play along his lips. Judging by her slim figure, she should start to show early in her pregnancy rather than later. As she was still incredibly thin, skinny almost, he dismissed the idea of Mark being the baby's father quite quickly. Which meant she had gotten over Mark quickly. Or, more likely, was sleeping around even before he had died. Yes. That must be it.

And, more importantly, it would reveal her true character – a manipulating bitch – to the world.

That _he_ was behaving the same way he accused Buffy of behaving, never crossed his mind.

--

_A/N: Thanks for all those reviews again! Sorry about the shortness, but Muse is on strike. Well, not really. I actually know what happens next, but couldn't help myself and post this one… __To be honest, it took me ages to write this. I started typing and then was like 'Huh? Where did that come from?'. Getting over the surprise of what I was typing took some time, but now I'm actually quite pleased with the outcome. Hope you like it too!_


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Heather Forrester sighed and closed her eyes. Wherever she went these days, she saw children of all shapes and sizes. Babies in prams being pushed by smiling mothers. Toddlers wobbling along on the hands of moms and dads. Children talking animatedly and laughing on the playground. Children being comforted by their parents after having fallen off the swings.

It hadn't always been like this, but in the last year or two she had started to notice the children more and more. Apparently, her subconscious mind thought it was time to get married and start her own family. Which was fine with her. She had a successful career and even though she hadn't become a lawyer like her parents and older brother, they had accepted her choice. Especially after she became a rather successful surgeon who the right people looked up to.

She was engaged, even though they hadn't set a date yet. Cliff had also started to warm up to the idea of having children. Life was perfect.

Then her little brother had died in a car accident.

They hadn't been close.

Not anymore.

But he had still been her little brother. She had still sent him Birthday and Christmas cards. Despite him stopping to reply a few years ago.

Worse, those friends of his had not even had the decency to contact his family after his death! He might have spent the last decade away from home, but that didn't give _them_ the right to deny his family the right to arrange his funeral. To bring him back home. In contrast, her family hadn't even been told until the funeral had been over. Even then they hadn't bothered to come by in person or phone them. Or just send them a personalised letter.

No. Not them.

Eventually, someone had phoned her parents' law firm and had told the secretary. The _secretary_! Who in their right mind would do that? No wonder her parents and brother had been furious. She herself had been too shocked to be angry. Too empty. And, for the first time since her teenage years, she had cried herself to sleep that night as Cliff had been at a conference and therefore unable to comfort her the way she had wanted and needed.

So she had curled up in bed and cried for all the missed opportunities. They both had had so many dreams when they were little. Jonathan, their older brother, had always known that he wanted to become a lawyer like their parents. But the two younger siblings used to change their future careers almost monthly. But even then, she'd always chosen something her parents would consider appropriate while her brother, barely two years her junior, had already shown signs of becoming the family rebel.

Hence, it hadn't come as a surprise to her when he went travelling as soon as he had finished high-school instead of going straight to college as their parents had expected. In fact, she had enjoyed his phone calls and long letters in which he had described his adventures in detail.

Okay, their parents hadn't been too pleased about it. But they had let him be.

Then his calls had become less frequent. As had his letters. Later, after almost two month without any sign of life from him, he had sent them a rather impersonal letter telling them about is plans to study in Italy.

It had hurt her. Him not telling her in person but in a rather boring letter.

Jonathan had just snorted at their brother's decision. Had said he hadn't expected anything else. Had called him the black sheep of the family for the first time in front of their parents.

And they hadn't protested.

Neither had she. In that moment, she had simply been too disappointed by her little brother's distrust in her to protest.

Later, once she had time to calm down, she had gone to their mother and asked for her brother's address or phone number so she could contact him. She had once more been disappointed as their hadn't been a phone number but she had swallowed her pride and wrote a long and detailed letter to him. Telling him how she had felt without holding back.

She had never received an answer.

So she had tried again after they had received a formal Christmas card from him.

Again, she had received no answer. After that their had only been Birthday and Christmas cards from both sides. Until his had stopped completely. Yet she had never given up on him.

But now it was too late. There would never be a time to talks things out. There would never be the talk she craved so much.

Mark was dead.

Sighing again, Heather opened her eyes. The sky was still blue, the sun was still shining even if her thoughts had become more depressive. When the unmistakeable deep belly laugh of a toddler reached her ears, she turned in the direction it seemed to have come from. And couldn't stop the single tear from escaping. It was too late for many things.

A couple of weeks after hearing about Mark's death, fate had presented her with another low blow.

A fairly routine examination had come back with devastating results.

She was infertile. Or close to, anyway. The chances of her ever becoming pregnant were slimmer than slim. Worse, if against all odds – with or without medical intervention - she actually became pregnant, the chances of carrying the baby to term were even slimmer.

Cliff had taken the news quite well. Then again, he had been behaving kind of odd ever since they had learned about Mark's death. She had started to wonder if he had an affair. But, after several long sleepless nights, she had taken a deep breath and asked him if he had. He had been so genuinely surprised by her suggestion, that she had known immediately that she was wrong. Luckily he hadn't been mad at her but had told her about having some problems at work.

She had asked if she could help in any way but he had just shaken his head and promised to leave his problems at work from now on. Which he had. Heather smiled. He had looked so guilty then. But things were back to normal now.

Looking at her watch, she quickly stood up and started her way back to the hospital. Her lunch-break was almost over. Taking out her mobile, she swiftly dialled his mobile number. There was always time for a quick chat with her fiancé. When the call was immediately directed to his mail-box, she dialled another number.

This time she was having more luck.

"Can I talk to Dr Marmine, please?"

--

Ever since sending the request for information on one Buffy Summers, House had started to check his emails first thing in the morning. Not really reading all the new emails he had received, mind you, but just making sure he hadn't gotten an answer to his request yet. Which, so far, he hadn't.

Couldn't have anyone else have this piece of information. As, even with Cameron gone, he still didn't answer his own emails. Most of them where rubbish anyway. Still, he had the suspicion Wilson was sneaking into his account occasionally to make sure House didn't miss the important stuff. If there happened to be any.

This morning, however, was different. He had woken up in a good mood for once. Which caused him to end up in his office early. Then, upon opening his email account, a slow smile started to spread across his lips.

He had just received a reply. Well, the email itself had been sent off late the previous night, but he'd been asleep by then. So, technically, he had just received it.

Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he made himself comfortable by putting his feet up on his desk and opened the email.

Halfway through, he sat up quickly, putting his feet back on the ground. Then he read the sentence again.

She had burned down her high school gym?

Whoa! That was brilliant stuff! Grinning, he read through the remaining information. Which turned out to be just as interesting as the first part.

Once finished, he leaned back, folded his hands and rested his head on the top of his index-fingers.

He had lots to think about. And if he was getting paid for it by doing it at the hospital, then it was even better.

--

On Friday morning Buffy was standing in front of her full-length mirror, staring at her mirror image with a frown. Or rather, at her belly.

She'd just popped the button of the second pair of pants. Either her pants had decided to collectively shrink during their last wash or she was actually starting to get fat. But she was only 15 weeks pregnant!

Oh.

She was 15weeks pregnant.

That might explain it.

Still.

What was she going to wear if all of her clothes decided to stop fitting her at the exact same time?

Complaining to her uncooperative clothes in general, she went to grab her phone.

"I'm too fat for my clothes," Buffy whined as soon as the phone was answered.

The only reply was chuckling.

Grumbling, Buffy added, "That's so not fair! Laughing in the face of a major clothes crisis."

"How about we raid the shopping mall on Saturday?" Lisa replied, the smile still evident in her voice.

"But what about now?" Buffy whined. "You don't want naked Buffy at work, do you?"

Laughing again, Lisa shook her head. Even though Buffy couldn't see it. "I'm sure half the patients and staff won't mind."

"Hey!" Buffy exclaimed, clearly pouting. "You spent way too much time with House."

"We work together," Lisa said with furrowed brows.

"Uh huh."

"We do," Lisa replied uncomfortably, knowing full well that there was some truth in Buffy's statement. "Now, what's wrong with your clothes?"

"They shrunk."

Buffy could hear her mother chuckle once more. Looking critically into the full-length mirror again, she added, "They did. Or an evil clothes-shrinking demon sneaked into my apartment."

Lisa snorted. "Evil cloth-shrinking demon? Are there non-evil clothes-shrinking demons?"

"Ha ha. Very funny."

"Thanks," Lisa replied evenly. "Now, have you tried wearing a dress?"

Buffy shook her head. "I don't want to," she added, her voice having a definite whining note to it. "But the buttons on my pants keep popping."

"Leave the button open. Wear a long shirt or blouse over it."

"But-," Buffy whined some more.

Lisa sighed. "Okay, how about I'll come by your place and we'll have a look together?"

"Really?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Really. I'll even bring some donuts," Lisa said while grabbing her purse and keys. She'd just ask her secretary to move her first appointment back for half an hour or arrange it at a completely different time. As it was Wilson, she was sure he wouldn't mind too much.

"Jam donuts?"

Grinning, Lisa locked her front door behind her. "Yes, even jam donuts."

Less than half an hour later, Lisa knocked at her daughter's door. And couldn't help laughing at Buffy opening the door wearing nothing but an oversized jumper. Upon Buffy's glare, she wordlessly handed her the box she was carrying.

"Twelve donuts, including some jam donuts just for you," she said, smiling knowingly.

"Oh!" Buffy considerably perked up and opened the box. With a squeal of delight, she took the first donut in sight and quickly relieved it of its miserable life. Moaning in sheer bliss as she did so.

Grinning, Lisa couldn't help but comment, "No wonder your clothes won't fit!"

Squinting her eyes at her mother, Buffy half turned away before grabbing another donut. "I've got a fast metabolism."

Lisa laughed. "Tell that the evil cloth-shrinking demons."

Buffy huffed. And ate a third donut. This one was covered in chocolate.

Shaking her head, Lisa motioned towards to bedroom. "Shall we have a look?"

Seeing Buffy nod, Lisa led the way – and raised her eyebrows at the chaos in the room. Every surface – including the floor, was covered in clothes.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't decide."

Shaking her head, Lisa carefully stepped into the room. "No kidding."

And wondered if the 30 minutes she had given herself would be enough to sort through this chaos.

--

"You're late."

She knew that already, Buffy thought darkly. While improving her mood short-term, having eaten seven donuts for breakfast didn't do anything to help with her uncooperative clothes.

Allison frowned. Usually Buffy didn't care about anything like that. But today she seemed to be rather grumpy. "Hey, are you alright?"

Buffy only huffed and opened the door to the stairs. Raising her eyebrows, Allison followed. She had time for a short break. "Buffy," she prompted once more.

"I'm fat," Buffy stated before plopping onto the steps, hiding her face in her hands.

"Oh my god!" Allison exclaimed excitedly. "You mean you actually started to show?"

Buffy nodded miserably, not bothering to look up.

"It's about time!" Allison continued, her excitement never leaving her voice. Despite Buffy throwing her a very dark look at her enthusiasm. "We so need to go shopping! I've got tomorrow off, how about that?"

Buffy gave Allison a calculating look. She'd already made arrangements to haunt the mall on Sunday with her mother. But going there twice could hardly hurt. Who knows? The 'Monsters that Be' might decide to give her bump a growth spurt overnight! Feeling a bit better, Buffy finally gave her friend a small lopsided grin. "I guess. What about house hunting?"

"Huh?" Confusing written all over her face, Allison sat down next to Buffy.

"I've got an appointment to look at two houses in the morning," Buffy explained. Lisa had wanted to come, but had to do some hospital stuff that day. Hence the shopping trip on Sunday rather than Saturday. "Have lunch afterwards and then raid the mall?"

Allison nodded. Getting up, she held out her hands to Buffy and pulled her up. "Sounds like a plan. Maybe check out some guys too."

Grinning, Buffy waggled her eyebrows. "Chase not enough for you?"

Blushing, Allison shook her head. "I'm talking window shopping only."

Buffy smirked. "Uh huh." Before Allison could reply though, she quickly made her way up the stairs and out of her friend's reach.

Meanwhile, Allison stood still for another couple of seconds before shaking her head and going back to the ER. At least Buffy looked much happier now. Besides, she also knew Chase wouldn't mind the short-notice arrangement as he already had plans to spent the day with his friends.

Male bonding or something like that.

--

_A/N: Sorry about the little wait – but I've been writing several chapters and just didn't get around to edit them. If anyone of you has an idea where Heather is coming from – I'd really like to know too! Muse must have sneaked her in when I wasn't looking. But I think I'm going to like her. Kinda._

_ - slowly backs out and gets into running-away position - _

_Well… some of you probably have noticed that we are closing in on the month of November. _

_ - starts running really, really fast -_

_Which is the month of NaNoWriMo. 50000 words written in one month. Original fiction. cough No time for fanfiction cough _

_ - reaches hiding spot -  
_

_Anyway, I've three more chapters written (though they still need a bit of editing … btw, the Tara-story will play a prominent role!) and I'll try to write even more (no promises!). However, updates will still be less frequent in the next few weeks… BUT I'll be back! That IS a promise._


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Monday morning came way too early for Buffy. Groaning, she stumbled out of her bed and straight into the bathroom for her shower. At least she had enough clothes for the rest of her pregnancy.

Hopefully.

Smiling slightly, she thought back to the last weekend. The house hunting with Allison had been fun. As it had turned out, Allison had a good eye for the details. Or, rather, those that Buffy hadn't thought about. Even though Buffy hadn't found what she was looking for, together with Allison she had been able to give the agent a much more detailed description of what she wanted and needed. The agent hadn't minded the long checklist, but promised to go over the properties on sale again and contact Buffy as soon as something suitable came up.

After that, Buffy and Allison had gone for lunch – which included window-shopping for men, of course – followed by a rather long shopping spree. As neither of them had anything else to do and Chase was out late, they'd rounded the day off with a good ol' chick flick and lots of popcorn and other unhealthy snacks.

Sunday had been equally successful. In the morning, Buffy had met up with the two Slayers Faith had sent. It was their weekly meeting to check on their progress and plan next weeks activities. Their first meeting the previous week had still been somewhat awkward as the girls were impressed just to be with the most successful Slayer in recent history.

Luckily, Buffy had managed to convince them that even she was only human. With special abilities, of course. Then again, drifting off in the middle of them talking about their pre-Slayer life might have helped a lot. Sondra and Eve had even gone as far as nicknaming her sleepyhead. But Buffy didn't mind. In fact, she had been chuckling alongside them and any earlier tension between them had vanished immediately.

Being more awake again, she had suggested some changes to their schedules to increase their efficiency. These changes would give Sondra and Eve more time to themselves. After that, the two younger Slayers had been ready to do anything for Buffy. Naturally, this included teasing her mercilessly if the situation arose.

Later that Sunday, she had met up with Lisa and they had gone shopping once more. Even better, Buffy had managed to avoid all the shops she and Allison had raided the previous day. Lisa had wondered at first, but when Buffy had sheepishly admitted to the previous day's raiding session, Lisa had just laughed and shaken her head every time they had passed another shop without going inside.

When the real estate agent had phoned in the middle of that afternoon, telling Buffy about a property that had just come in, they had cut their shopping trip short – it wasn't like Buffy hadn't bought enough clothes already. And, despite it being Sunday, they went to see the house. Even though the property wasn't going onto the market for another couple of weeks.

It was love at first sight. Despite the current state of chaos inside as it was still occupied.

The three-bedroom house was in a relative quite neighbourhood. Not lifeless though, as it was filled with kids enjoying the sunny afternoon outside. The house itself was painted in a welcoming yellow-orangy colour and had an unexpected ranch-style layout. Buffy loved it. It had the basement she wanted to convert into a training room for herself and the fenced backyard Allison insisted on being an absolute necessity.

Upon entering, you came into a central area that led to the bedrooms, family bathroom and the dining and living room as well as to the stairs. There were two similar sized bedrooms at the front of the house. At the back was the big and bright master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. And, much to Buffy's delight, a walk-in closet.

The kitchen at the back of the house overlooked a covered porch big enough to put a medium sized picnic table on it. Albeit small, it still allowed for comfortable cooking. Eating would have to be done in the dining area of the huge dining and living or family room though.

Located at the rear of the house between the master bedroom and the kitchen, the dining/living room was dominated by an, all of the back wall covering, large window. This gave a great free view into the big backyard. Even better, the room was literally protruding into the backyard, giving the room an even bigger feel to it. To the right, it had access to the covered patio in front of the kitchen, and to the left was a similar sized, albeit open, patio.

Upstairs was smaller and already dominated by the roof's slope. There was a small office and another small bathroom. The majority of space, however, was allocated to a big play room. The carpet was soft and deep, just asking to be played on. Toys were lying around in most of the room, although there was a small corner that was clear of them as if there was an invisible barrier or something. Instead, there were books everywhere and a well-worn loveseat in the middle of it. As simple as it was, it looked like a well loved and frequently used reading space.

And, in the middle of all the toys, Buffy found the answer to a question that had been lingering at the back of her mind since they had entered the house.

More than once did she or Lisa had to stop in order to avoid running into a little black-haired boy. After getting more and more worried at just how much trouble one little boy could get into and at his ability to be at several places at the same time, they had finally found their answer. There, oblivious to the strangers in the middle of their favourite room, were identical twin boys having an important battle for some space station or other.

Sharing a grin, mother and daughter had left the boys to their play. Walking around the backyard, they had talked about their first impressions. Which were just as identical as the small boys upstairs.

Lisa liked it just as much as Buffy, and Buffy had promised the agent to get back to her as soon as possible.

The current owners, the Martens, had offered to show her around the neighbourhood after immediately getting along with Buffy and Lisa. If she was interested. And they had invited Buffy and Lisa to stay for their good-bye barbeque that very night. They might not move out for a few weeks, but it had been the best time to get most of their neighbours to come.

With two boys now hanging on either side of her, Buffy hadn't had much of a choice but to accept the impromptu invitation. Not that it had been such a hard decision anyway. The longer they had stayed, the more Buffy had relaxed. The boys, having found two new persons to twist around their little finger, had played a large part in it too. Of course, it hadn't hurt that the neighbours turned out to be just as pleasant as the Martens.

In other words, Buffy was sold. She wanted this house and had told Lisa so on their way back.

When they had finally made it home, or rather when Lisa had dropped her off at her apartment, Buffy had just managed to change into her pajamas and crawl into bed before falling asleep.

Until the stupid alarm had her woken up earlier this morning.

Sighing, her mind came back to the present and she finished the last of her breakfast before walking towards the hospital.

Luckily, there hadn't been any more incidents with Dr Marmine. In fact, he had taken her aside once more but this time had actually explained what had gone wrong and how she could improve in those areas. Both of them had used the appropriate tone and left thinking they had finally achieved what they had wanted all along.

Buffy wanting to become the best physiotherapist she could be – which would only work with the right instructors, of course. She didn't really care about him liking her or not, she just wanted to learn. And to be treated correctly. Still, she was still wary around Dr Marmine, having the niggling feeling they were having nothing but a short cease fire.

Marmine, on the other hand, wanted to make sure she couldn't hold his treatment of her against him. As, grudgingly, he had to agree that some of the points she had made were rather valid. So he would play nice for the moment to ensure the biggest impact of future accusations. He even went as far as talking with her about amending her schedule, taking her pregnancy into account.

With this on her mind, Buffy was in a good mood again by the time she reached the hospital. She had to tell Allison about the house, after all. And ask if she'd fancy a visit one evening.

She'd exchanged numbers with the Martens' in case she wanted to have another look. Which, considering she already called the agent and told her she was going to make an offer, she did.

--

House was grinning as he strolled into the conference room.

In fact, he hadn't stopped grinning ever since reading the report on Buffy last Friday. If anything, he had made a couple of more enquiries over the weekend. Although he hadn't unearthed much more, what he knew already was enough for lots of fun.

His remaining fellow candidates looked at each other in varying degrees of surprise and foreboding. In their experience, a grinning House never meant anything good. Kutner was just about to make a comment, when the door opened and Wilson walked in.

"Wilson! What can I do for you this wonderful morning?" House asked cheerfully. Pulling a face, a quickly amended, "Well, you know I'd get someone else to do it. Unless it's a hot chick needing to be ogled. Or groped. Better yet, ogled and groped."

"Did you overdose?" Wilson asked unimpressed. "Again?"

House looked shocked. "What? Me? Overdosed? You know I'm basically living off water and dry bread."

Rolling his eyes, Wilson looked towards his office. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." House nodded but didn't move. When Wilson kept moving his head towards House's office, he added, "Oh! You mean in private?"

Wilson just rolled his eyes and went to open the office door.

Still rooted to the spot, House put both his hands over his heart. "I don't hide anything from the kids," he said innocently. "Unless we are talking sex. Or drugs. Or-"

"House." Wilson interrupted him annoyed. "I'm not in the mood for playing games."

Pulling a chair out, House sat down. "Shame, really."

Scowling, Wilson forcefully closed the office door again. "Fine. Have it your way."

House raised his eyebrows. Leaning towards his wanna-be fellows, he stage-whispered, "I think someone I_really/I_ needs to get laid."

Kutner snickered openly while the others tried to be less obvious. Although, Amber, House thought for a moment, seemed to be a bit too interested in her hands.

Ignoring House's comment, Wilson started walking up and down. Finally stopping, he turned towards House, "I don't get how you can work with that … that Summers woman!"

"Boring." Sighing, House leaned back in his chair, putting his feet onto the table. "You keep repeating yourself."

"But you don't even know her all that well!"

"What," House snarled, "And you invite all your patients to dinner before treating them?"

"That's different!" Wilson said with conviction. "They are my patients!"

"Buffy's my physiotherapist," House replied evenly. And she's interesting, doesn't bore me to death and knows what she's doing. _And_ she burned down her high school gym.

"But," Wilson started. Taking a deep breath – to the hell with House's fellows – he spat out, "She's a killer!"

"Burning down a gym doesn't make her a killer," House replied dismissively.

"Huh?" Confused, Wilson stopped his pacing for a moment. "Burning down a gym?"

"Ops," House said, covering his mouth with one hand. "I didn't say that out loud, did I?"

Suddenly having the attention of everyone in the room on him, House shrugged his shoulders.

"When?" Wilson asked, forgetting for a moment what he was going to say.

Furrowing his eyebrows, House asked, "When what?"

"House."

"Well, I think we've established my name a while ago," House said.

"Fine. Be that way!" Throwing his arms in the air in annoyance, Wilson added, "You just said Summers burnt down a gym!"

"I did, didn't I?" House said thoughtfully. "Well, we've all been a bit wild at high school. Right?"

"You burnt down a gym?" Wilson asked sarcastically.

"Nope, but I guess Kutner did."

"Uh." Kutner blushed as he suddenly found himself in the middle of everyone's attention.

A smirk spreading across his face, House asked, "You did?"

Kutner shrugged his shoulders in defiance. "Garden shed. And it was an accident. Honestly."

"See!" House said in a triumphant voice, looking straight at Wilson. "These things happen."

"Did Kutner kill an innocent girl as well?" Wilson snapped, having enough of House's little games.

House raised his eyebrows while the other people in the room gasped more or less loudly. Kutner, being the only one looking in the direction of the door at that moment, started, "Uh, hello-"

Of course, nobody listened to him. Instead, House interrupted him with his reply to Wilson's accusation. "Didn't know you cared," he hissed. "But in case you haven't noticed, I'm very much alive."

"She killed my little cousin," Wilson spat out agitated, his head bright red with anger at his so-called friend's indifference. "Tara was shot because of _her_!"

A gasp from the doorway had everyone turning in that direction – and making obvious what Kutner had been trying to say for the past few minutes.

There, being as white as a sheet, stood Buffy. She'd been on the way to a tutorial and figured she might just as well arrange the next appointment with House. Unfortunately she had arrived just as Wilson was making his accusations.

Feeling everyone's attention on her, she slowly shook her head in order to shake off the memories of that fateful day. Only sheer determination keeping her voice from shaking, she said, "He's right. Tara wouldn't have died that day if it wasn't for me."

Turning on the spot, she quickly left and walked to the only safe place she could think of.

Neither her nor the shocked people in the diagnostics department's conference room saw the lone figure quickly following her.

Or Dr Marmine, coming out of his hiding place, spotting a big grin threatening to split his face in two.

--

_A/N: I am back! Muahahahaha. I finally managed to re-catch all the brain cells that had run off screaming at the end of November (the poor things had to think a lot about weird stuff… I think Muse scared them off). Anyway, Muse agreed to spare some time for my two fanfic stories again, so updates will be regular again. _


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Buffy walked hastily towards the stairs. The unshed tears in her eyes making it almost impossible for her to see where she was going.

It had been too good to be true.

A new place, new people. Nobody knew anything about her past and therefore she wouldn't be judged by it.

Okay, she had told her mother, but that was different. Lisa had once been part of that world. She understood and would never judge her for lighting up her high school gym. Well, she would probably suggest some less destructing manner to reach the same goal. Still, Buffy was sure her mother would understand most of the things she'd done. Things she had to do as there was no choice, really. Or, at least, Lisa would give her the benefit of a doubt and listen to Buffy's reasoning.

But everyone else?

Soon the news of her basically admitting to having caused the death of another human being would make their way around the hospital. And there was nothing even her mother could do about it. She had always wondered if she maybe would have been able to prevent Tara's death. If Tara would still be alive if she had never met them. She knew Xander and Willow thought about it occasionally too.

Worse, the little information about her burning down her high school gym – she really wondered how House had learned about that one – wouldn't exactly help her defence. It didn't matter that she hadn't pulled the trigger. People only saw what they wanted to see. She had been bad before, so why question her causing the death of Dr Wilson's cousin? No, they would believe him. Everyone in the hospital trusted Dr Wilson, he was a good man. Buffy didn't stood the slightest chance.

Allison would probably run away screaming too and take Chase with her. Her fellow physiotherapists would do the same. And Marmine? He'd probably throw a party to have finally gotten rid of her. Bastard.

A single tear escaped her eyes.

She would have to leave. Find another place. Start all over again.

Only where? She didn't want to go back to Italy. Too many memories. England or Scotland? Too close to Watcher's Central, for her liking. Besides, she didn't really want to leave the area, now that she had found her mother and they've started to get along so well. But could she simply stay here as if nothing had ever happened?

Buffy subconsciously shook her head to clear it. The longer she thought about it, the more questions started to pop up and it was getting really crowded up there. Blinking so she could see where exactly she was, Buffy sighed thankfully upon seeing the doors to the stairs straight ahead. A couple more minutes and she'd be on the roof. Watching the city below her always helped to calm her thoughts. Although she doubted it would do anything about her aching heart.

She had just pushed the door open, when she heard Chase calling for her. "Buffy! Wait!"

Great. Leaning her head against the door, she sighed deeply. Even if she ignored him, he would most likely follow her. So she just stayed where she was.

"Buffy, hey," Chase said. "I wondered if you've got a few minutes?"

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she pushed herself off the door and turned around, shrugging.

"Allison-" Chase started but stopped as soon as Buffy had turned completely. Frowning, he gently lifted her chin so he could see her face properly. "Have you been crying? Are you alright?"

Buffy moved away from his hand on her chin, but nodded. "I'm alright. I guess."

Chase wasn't convinced. Taking her by the arm, he lead her towards a nearby visitors area with some comfy chairs and a couch. Carefully pushing her onto the latter one, he took her hands in his. "The kid making trouble?"

Buffy couldn't help but smile at the concern in his voice. Well, this might very well be the last time he'd look at her without disgust. So she might just as well enjoy it. "Nope," she said, absently stroking her tummy.

"Hormones?"

This time Buffy grinned as Chase sounded both concerned and _very_ uncomfortable at the same time. But she didn't say anything. Chase, not knowing what to do, finally leaned in for an awkward hug.

Buffy didn't resist. In fact, she hugged him right back. At this moment, it was just what she needed. A reassuring hug from a friend. Even if he'd probably act differently if he knew the truth. When he got ready to move again, Buffy held onto him only tighter and this time, the tears came. The last few minutes had just been too much of an emotional roller coaster. Especially with her pregnancy adding some more hormones to the mix.

Chase, not knowing what else to do, awkwardly patted her back. At least her shampoo smelled nice.

Once the tears dried off, Buffy entangled herself from Chase and smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry. Guess my hormones were playing ping-pong after all."

"It's alright," Chase replied, clearly relieved she had herself under control again. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. You're very huggable."

Chase blushed. Just because she could – and in fear of never being able to do that again – she hugged him again. "Thanks," Buffy said. "I'm really much better."

And she was. For the moment. She would deal with the outcome of Wilson's revelation when she was confronted with it. But for the time being – no matter how short it may be – she was going to enjoy her new friends as much as she could.

"So, what did you want?"

--

Dawn stopped in shock when she heard that guy's accusations. How could he? Even worse, how could Buffy all but admit to having killed Tara! That was so not true! Right now, Dawn was not a happy camper.

She had woken up the previous morning and, for whatever reason, had felt the need to cross the big puddle and visit Buffy.

Maybe it had something to do with Buffy's confession of being pregnant and only having told Faith and now Dawn. Maybe it had something to do with Buffy's stories about her mother. Who, technically, was her biological mother as well. Or, maybe it had been some sort of premonition; having foreseen the situation she had just walked into.

She didn't know. And, frankly, she didn't care. All she cared for now was Buffy.

She had seen the look her sister was wearing upon fleeing from the room before. Had seen it every time Buffy had to save her from one demon or another. Had seen it every time someone got hurt during their fights. Yes, she had also seen it after they had told her about the stray bullet from Warren killing Tara. She had seen the look – a look of deep guilt – every time they lost a potential in the weeks leading to the final battle of Sunnydale. And, Dawn figured, she had seen it in the times after Buffy's resurrection; the look meaning her feeling guilty of wanting to be dead again.

Yes, Dawn knew that look.

But, unlike many of the other times, this time she, Dawn, could do something to the people causing that look. However, Buffy came first. So, instead of storming into the room like she wanted to, she quickly followed her sister.

Dawn's frown deepened. Buffy seemed to walk on autopilot. She wanted nothing more than to run up to her sister and give her a long, reassuring hug. But an inner voice told her to wait for a little while. Wait to see where she was going. Seeing the sign for the stairs, Dawn got an idea where Buffy was heading. In one of their last phone conversations Buffy had told her about the roof. How it always calmed her to look at the world below.

Nodding to herself, Dawn decided to not show herself until they reached the privacy of the roof.

Then, in best Scooby-style, the plan went down the drain. At least, for once, it wasn't in a bad way.

Watching the young man walking up to and talking to Buffy, Dawn stayed hidden to see where this was going. She followed them to a visitor area and, after seeing Buffy relax into the guy's embrace, decided she was in good hands at the moment.

Which left her to more important things.

Nobody hurt her sister without good reason. Or without paying for it.

--

The conference room was silent – despite it being occupied by several people.

House's prospective fellows were looking anywhere but at House or Wilson. House, for that matter, seemed to be deep in thought, ignoring them anyway. In contrast to House' unmoving figure, Wilson had started pacing again.

After several minutes had past, Kutner started moving again. He carefully leaned forward, shifting his way so that he could stand up quickly. First moving his head right, he looked at Thirteen, motioning towards the door. At her nod, he turned to the left and repeated the motion towards Amber and the others. As one, all six remaining fellowship candidates stood up.

Without batting an eyelash, House only said one word. "Stop." Yet it was enough to make them sit down again.

While his prospective fellows looked at each other with resignation in their eyes, House slowly moved his head up to look straight at them. "Anything leaves this room unless I say so and you'll be lucky to ever find work again." The room was suddenly filled with several audible gulps. "Anywhere."

Wilson, seemingly unaware of his surroundings, suddenly stopped pacing and looked straight at House. His face set in stone, rather matching the expression of a stubborn child, actually, he said, "See! Summers didn't even deny it!"

"Wilson." House's voice was quiet, yet sounding the most dangerous Kutner and the other fellowship candidates had ever heard.

"What? She even said it herself!"

"Uh." Shrinking slightly into his chair, Kutner lifted his hand as if he was still in school. "She said Tara wouldn't have died if it wasn't for her?"

"He's right," Thirteen continued. "She didn't directly admit on killing anyone."

"Yeah, but she still said it was her fault," Amber argued.

"Guilt." Upon hearing that single word, everyone turned towards the door. There stood a young woman, her long brown hair hanging loosely over her shoulder. And she was furious. Closing the door behind her, she walked up to Wilson – who actually took a step back as she stopped right in front of him. Stabbing him with her index finger, she stared at him angrily. "Who do you think you are? Running around making accusations about things you know nothing about?"

"Hey!" Wilson took another step back. Although, with his anger coming back full force, he stood his ground when Dawn stepped closer again. More, he leaned in closer as well. "I've got every damn right to tell everyone how she killed my cousin! She's a dangerous murderer!"

"Who is a murderer?" A curious voice asked from to once more open doorway.

A voice suspiciously sounding like the one from a certain Dean of Medicine.

--

_A/N: It's short, I know. But, let's be honest, who wouldn't stop at this point? _


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Recognising her immediately, Dawn put on her best smile. "Nobody. Well, apart from all those mean big murderers of course."

Cuddy closed the door behind her and put her arms on her hips. Squinting her eyes, she looked from one person to another, her eyes finally coming to rest on House. "Then why can I cut the tension in here with a knife?"

"Cause you know your cutlery?" Dawn quipped, taking some of the tension with her.

House raised an eyebrow at that and took a closer look, trying to figure out where he knew the girl - no, young woman - from. Suddenly he remembered. He had seen her in several of the photos in Buffy's apartment. Then he had thought her to be Buffy's sister. And, judging by the latest quip, they at least shared their sense of humour.

Cuddy, however, wasn't pleased with that answer. "Who are you?" Not waiting for a reply, she started to impatiently tap her foot on the floor. "House. What did you do this time?"

Eyes wide open, he pointed at himself in mock-shock. "Me? I didn't do anything!"

Dawn coughed – only to find herself at the receiving end of almost identical stares from both House and Cuddy. She just shrugged her shoulders.

Throwing her arms in the air in clear frustration, Cuddy turned to the, in her opinion anyway, only sensible person in the room. "Wilson. What's going on? And what's that about a murderer?"

Turning away from House and Cuddy, Dawn looked Wilson straight into his eyes, daring him to continue. He snarled at her before turning to Cuddy. "Summers just admitted to killing my cousin."

"No-o," House added immediately. "As Kutner here pointed out so nicely, she said she died because of her. That's a difference. Probably involves a whole lot of misguided guilt."

Not believing what she was hearing, Buffy a murderer, Cuddy stared open-mouthed at House and Wilson. Technically, she knew Buffy had killed before. But only non-human beings. And even though she had told her about some of the things she had faced in her life as Slayer, there had never been the mentioning of any human victims. Bad guys or not. Then again, Cuddy was pretty sure Buffy had only told her the tip of the iceberg so far. When they were alone, Buffy often seemed so much older than her actual age that it couldn't be explained by a few run-ins with vampires and demons.

Closing her mouth with an audible thud, Cuddy shook her head to clear her mind. "I don't believe it," she finally said.

"Good." Dawn agreed with a satisfied nod. "Because she didn't."

"How would you know?" Wilson all but screamed at her, giving her a little push. But having a Slayer as sister and living in Slayer Central for several years had made Dawn expect anything like that on a regular basis. Hence she didn't even bat an eyelash – but pushed back.

Wilson stumbled a few feet back but barely managed to stay upright. If anything, the tension in the room had quickly risen to levels way above the earlier ones. "Tara was my family! My little cousin, my cousin's daughter! I should know better than anyone!"

Dawn looked at him in disgust. "That explains it, then," she spat, giving him another shove.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wilson replied just as venomously.

Dawn laughed bitterly. A laugh that had goose bumps appearing on several of the other occupants in the room. "What? It's alright to run around accusing innocent people of killing others but you can't admit on beating up your own family? Beating the innocent and defenceless?"

"What?" Wilson squealed. "Who's beating up who's family?"

Dawn snorted, repeatedly stabbing Wilson's chest with her finger. "Come on, Mr Know-it-all! Why don't you tell everyone how your family has been systematically abusing first Tara's mom and then Tara as well? How your respectful family came chasing after Tara after she finally managed to break free? How they even admitted the abuse of her to us, her chosen family, when they came to drag her back?" Shaking her head, she added much gentler, almost as if talking only to herself, "How she became such a gentle and loving woman in that surrounding is a mystery in itself."

Wilson suddenly looked lost. A lot of the anger seemed to have left him and all that remained was an almost empty shell. Dragging himself over to the nearest chair, he slumped down. "I don't understand. Tara's mom never said anything."

Dawn wasn't so easily placated. Not only had he hurt her sister, but he hadn't done anything when his cousins needed him either. Which made him just as guilty in her books. "Yeah. Cause victims of domestic abuse always go out and tell everyone about their oh so happy life."

"But why did Tara's dad say Summers killed her? And she said so too only moments ago?" Wilson asked. His initial anger might have vanished, but he still couldn't believe what that woman in front of him was telling him. "How do I know you're telling the truth and Tara's dad is the one lying?"

Dawn shook her head in pity. "When was the last time you talked to them. Visited them?"

"Uh," Wilson started but had to stop to really think about that question. "Ten, no, probably 15 years ago? They've always been otherwise occupied during family meetings."

"Of course they have," Dawn said drolly, rolling her eyes.

Wilson looked up. Maybe, just maybe, she was right. "But what about Tara's death. I still don't understand what happened."

Dawn sighed. It wasn't really her place to tell but there were too many people in this room to just ignore his question. "What do you know?"

Wilson opened his mouth but had to stop again. For the first time he realised that he didn't know much at all. "I've called a while ago and her brother told me that she's dead. Died in Sunnydale before it became a sinkhole because of one Buffy Summers."

Dawn nodded before sitting down as well. She had figured as much. Apparently Wilson realised that too. "Guess it's rather vague, really." Dawn nodded. "Then why did she admit to it?"

"Guilt," Dawn repeated the one word she had uttered upon entering the room. Taking a deep breath, she continued, the pain of the events still evident in her voice. "The day before, Buffy had come upon a robbery and instead of looking the other way, had called the cops. Unfortunately, one of the robbers, got away. He found out our address and came running into our garden the next day. Buffy was talking with a friend outside and the robber immediately pulled out a weapon and shot her. He shot a few more times, making sure no one would chase him. One of the bullets went straight through an upstairs bedroom window. Tara was in that room. The bullet went straight through her heart."

Once Dawn had finished, silence once more settled across the room. Wilson had buried his face in his hands while House was curiously eyeing Dawn. And Cuddy as she had gone suspiciously pale upon hearing about Buffy being shot. The fellows, like before, continued to work on their invisibility cloak. Or their ability to sink through the floor. Naturally, neither of it worked.

Finally, Wilson looked at Dawn again. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Dawn shrugged. It wasn't her place to accept any apologies. And, even though she had to admit he seemed to be honestly sorry, she wasn't finished with him. Not for a long shot.

"What happened to Buffy?" House asked curiously. For one he really wanted to know, but, more importantly, he had a theory to test as well.

"She survived." Dawn rolled her eyes at him. "Obviously."

"And felt guiltily ever after, we know," House replied dismissively. "I'm more interested in the details."

Dawn raised her eyebrows. Buffy had been spot on when she described him to her. "Pervert."

"Doctor," House corrected with a smirk.

"Same difference." Dawn said with a shrug. "The bullet barely missed her heart, had her flat-lining in hospital. Once she recovered, she started blaming herself. Had she not interrupted the robbery or let the guy get away, Tara might still be alive, yadda yadda yadda."

Wilson tiredly rubbed his face. "That's bullshit," he finally whispered.

Dawn nodded, for once agreeing with the doctor. "I know. Took a while to get the message through to Buffy, though. She can be quite stubborn at times."

House snorted. Not only at the young woman's reply, but also at his theory. Just like he had expected, Cuddy had paled even more once she heard about the bullet barely missing Buffy's heart. Or her flat-lining. Which meant he had been right all along. There was more to Cuddy and Buffy than they were telling him. Much more. He'd been suspecting it for quite some time now, but what he'd observed today was as good as them admitting to it. Now he only had to find out the details.

Those could wait for a few minutes, though. Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he looked at the young woman again. "Sister?"

"Yep. Dawn." Dawn gave him a lopsided grin. "Grumpy Cane Guy?"

House twirled his cane in reply. Foreman snorted and shook his head. He might have difficulties finding a job outside of the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, but at least it was never boring around here.

Cuddy looked up as well. She'd been worried beyond belief upon hearing about Buffy's almost dying after being shot, despite knowing that she was fine now. At one point she actually had to sit down on her hands to keep them from shaking. But hearing the young woman in the room was none other than Buffy's little sister had helped to get that message through to her heart.

Now she took the time to study Dawn curiously. She was definitely taller than Buffy. But almost as slim and she held herself with the same air of confidence that surrounded Buffy – when you knew where to look, that is. And, judging by the earlier display, she was just as protective of her sister as Buffy was of her.

Giving everyone in the room a calculating look, Amber was the first the break the current silence again. "What about the burnt down high school gym?"

"What?" Cuddy asked in surprise. Not that she didn't know about it, but rather she hadn't expected them to know. Turning slightly, she saw House grin. That would explain it. When he waggled his eyebrows at her, she started to glare daggers at him. Bastard.

Instead of replying, House watched Cuddy. And started to wonder if she had known about the gym beforehand. This was getting more and more interesting. Then he frowned. Not that he was afraid of Cuddy glaring at him. He was used to it after all. But Dawn having the _exact_ same expression on her face as Cuddy? Now that started to get rather creepy. Was there even more to them then he already thought? Despite him being absolutely sure of Dawn and Cuddy never having met before. His frown deepened. While spending his time on finding out as much information about Buffy as possible, he hadn't explicitly looked for a connection between her and Cuddy. He would have to rectify that.

As nobody was offering an explanation, Kutner decided today was a good day to dig himself a nice and cosy grave. Besides, he just followed-up on Amber's question, he wasn't the one starting it, right? "So, yeah? What about the high school gym?"

Dawn sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "What do you expect from a place where weird is of the normal?"

"Huh?" Amber asked.

"Ever been to L.A.?" Dawn asked completely serious. "It's the unofficial capital of rodents on drugs. It's hardly Buffy's fault that giving a book of matches to a couple of mice ended up with the gym catching fire."

Kutner stared at her open-mouthed. "You're kidding!"

Dawn shook her head, a sad expression on her face. "Nope."

Cuddy smiled. As did House. Yes, Dawn definitely had Buffy's sense of humour. Though now was not the time to think about it. This was still a hospital with people waiting to be healed. Coughing to get everyone's attention, Cuddy stood up. "House, as you don't have a patient, split your fellows between the clinic and the ER."

"Yes, ma'am."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "You can join them in the clinic. No arguments."

"Wilson, I'm sure you have patients as well." He nodded and walked towards the door. Before he could open it though, Cuddy spoke up again. "This conversation is not leaving this room. Do I make myself clear? And, Wilson? My office, 5 p.m.."

Wilson gulped but nodded. Everyone else agreed as well and cleared out. Even House didn't argue; though he couldn't help himself but smirk as he passed Cuddy.

Once the doctors had left the room, Cuddy turned to Dawn. "Will Buffy be alright?"

Dawn frowned but nodded. "I think so. I just arrived when the shit hit the fan. I was going to talk to her then but she run into a friend. That seemed to help so I came back to sort things out on this end first."

Cuddy frowned. "Who did she run into?"

"Don't know. A young doctor, I guess." Dawn tried to remember more details. Grinning when she did, she added. "Shiny, floppy hair."

"Australian?"

"Definitely," Dawn said with conviction.

Cuddy sighed in relief. "Dr Robert Chase. One of House's former fellows. Allison's boyfriend. She's Buffy best friend here."

Dawn nodded in relief. "I know. Buffy told me about her. So she really is in good hands for now. I still need to catch her before she does anything stupid, though."

Cuddy looked at her watch. "Buffy has a tutorial right now, so we can't talk to her anyway." Tilting her head, she asked, "Care for a coffee? My treat."

Dawn shrugged. She didn't have anything better to do. Besides, the flight and later tension had drained most of her energy. Besides, it gave her some more time with Cuddy. Her mother, so to speak. "Why not. Lead the way."

As the reached the elevators, Dawn asked, "Oh, do you know someone who'd enjoy seeing Buffy in trouble?"

The finger ready to press the button to call the elevator stopped mid-air and Cuddy turned to Dawn. "What?"

"Well, there was a middle-aged, well groomed, really dark haired guy lurking out of sight but in hearing distance of the conference room. He walked off rather pleased when Buffy left the room," Dawn explained.

Cuddy slowly shook her head. Finally pressing the button on the elevator, she kept thinking about it. "Maybe," she said just as the elevator doors opened and they entered.

--

_A/N: There you go. Hope you like it! Thanks for all the lovely reviews on the last chapter. They made Muse grin like an idiot – which in return gave me a chance to laugh her silly expression! Thanks!_

_Sorry about the delay, but I was ambushed by a huge pile of unread books. Had to read my way out to freedom again. Sneaky little buggers, those books._


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Buffy was surprised how well her tutorial went. The little chat with Chase had helped even more than she had hoped. Of course, now that she had nothing to busy her mind with, the fear of losing her new friends came back full force.

Buffy shuffled out of the room slowly with her head hung low. It was her allotted lunch-break, but she didn't really feel very lunch-y at the moment. Should she go to the roof for some peace? Or should she try and find Allison, enjoy her company a last time before she was going look at her like she was a monster.

Buffy was just contemplating if it would be worth to find a coin and leave the decision to luck when it was taken out of her hand.

"Buffy, hey!" Allison pushed herself off the wall and walked over to her friend. Chase had been right – she looked miserable. "Care for some lunch?"

Startled, Buffy looked up and gave her soon-to-be ex-friend a shaky smile. "Would you listen if I said no?"

Grinning, Allison linked arms with Buffy and started to pull her towards the stairs. "Nope. You need to eat – at least for your baby."

Grumbling all the way, Buffy followed – a tiny spark of hope lodging itself in her heart. Allison took the grumbling as what it was and grinned. "So, Chase is huggable, huh?"

"Very." Buffy pushed open the door to the stairs. She never used the elevator unless absolutely necessary and it was one of the more obvious adjustments Allison had been willing to make for her friend. "And chatty."

Allison stopped. "You're not mad at him, are you?"

Schooling her expression, Buffy did her best to look miffed. Judging by the growing worry radiating off of Allison, she did a very fine job too. "Buffy?"

Giving in, Buffy started to chuckle. "Got'cha!"

Allison rolled her eyes. "No wonder House likes you."

Shrugging her shoulders, Buffy started to move again and Allison followed quickly.

The closer they came to the cafeteria, the more Buffy started to drag her feet. Knowing the efficiency of the hospital grapevine, it was almost unbelievable that Allison hadn't heard anything yet. But with the cafeteria being a major meeting point there was bound to be someone inside who knew just who the rumours were about. They'd probably start pointing and whispering as soon as they realised she was there. Then Allison would know and only look at her in disappointment.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy followed Allison inside, head held high. She didn't look around the room like she usually would, but went straight for the food line and concentrated on the food. Sort of.

Allison pointed at Buffy's tray, grinning widely. "So much for not being hungry, huh?"

"Wha-?" Following Allison's finger, Buffy took in her tray for the first time. There were two different chocolate-laden desserts plus another chocolate muffin. Next to that were two Reuben sandwiches - something she had to give House credit for, they were delicious – a portion of fries and a bottle of orange juice.

"The baby took you by surprise?" Allison asked, smiling widely at Buffy.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Seems to have a thing for chocolate." Giving her friend a weak smile, she added, "I agree."

Chuckling, Allison paid for both their food before looking for a place to sit. There was a table in the back of the room, and, knowing Buffy's preferences, she walked towards it. Then she stopped short and stared.

Only Buffy's reflexes prevented her from running straight into her friend. "Hey, what's up?"

Allison didn't move but continued to stare.

"Hello?". Still nothing. Gently moving her friend to the side, Buffy estimated which direction she was looking in and followed her example. "What, is there a new- ... huh."

There, in a somewhat secluded corner was her mother having lunch. That, in itself, wouldn't be stare-worthy, but the person she was with - well, that was another matter. Her little sister will have a lot of explaining to do. She was supposed to be at uni, studying. Not sitting in a hospital cafeteria, thousand miles away from said university. And, judging from Dawn's relaxed posture, she wasn't here because of an emergency.

Allison finally found her voice again. "Do you know her?" Before Buffy could answer, though, Allison continued in a curiosity-laden voice, "I bet they are related. Their mimic and gesture is just so similar!"

Buffy shut her mouth with an audible thud. _That_ she hadn't expected. However, taking a closer look, she had to admit that Allison was right. One could easily mistake them as relatives. Buffy gulped. They _were_ close relatives. She just never thought it would be that obvious. From taking a closer look around the cafeteria, she could tell that Allison wasn't the only one thinking along those lines.

Buffy groaned. This was just getting worse and worse.

"Come on, let's go over."

"What?" Buffy stopped short, looking at Allison as if she had just gone mad.

Chuckling, Allison nudged her with her elbow. "Afraid Dr Cuddy will bite? She knows you already, doesn't she? She's nice - despite what House tries to make everyone believe."

Oh boy. She was in so much trouble. As it would be futile to resist, Buffy grudgingly followed her friend to her mother and sister.

--

Lisa Cuddy had a great time. Somehow she felt just as comfortable in Dawn's company as she did in Buffy's. As it was lunch-time anyway, they had quickly turned the coffee-break in a lunch and coffee break.

At the moment Dawn was telling her some anecdotes from her time as a kid. Naturally, all those stories put her in a good light while Buffy wasn't as lucky. Lisa still found it hard to see Buffy as the Valley Girl, having met her so much later. It also made her sad, seeing how much being the Slayer had cost her daughter. Dawn, recognising the tell-tale signs of guilt and doubt creeping up on Lisa, quickly reassured her that there was nothing she could have done.

Buffy had accepted it a long time ago. Otherwise she would be long dead. Lisa was shocked at the bluntness of Dawn's statement, but then she started to really think about it. And agreed.

Knowing it was time to lighten the mood again, Dawn asked Lisa, her eyes twinkling with mischief, "So, did Buffy tell you about her first boyfriend?"

Lisa was about to say yes when she realised they had only talked about him in very general terms. "Actually, all I got was his name. Angel. Kinda romantic isn't it?"

There was no way Dawn could have stopped the bubbles of laughter coming from deep inside her. Buffy would probably kill her, but this was well worth it. Seeing Lisa frown, she quickly tried to reassure her. "Don't get me wrong. Those two? Big feelings, true love, big tragedy and all that."

"But?"

"One could say they were doomed from the start." Dawn winked at her. "And that you would have disapproved of the age gap."

Lisa had been so intend on listening to Dawn that she hadn't seen Allison and Buffy approach their table. In fact, she only had time to raise her eyebrows in surprise before Buffy hit the back of Dawn's head. Hard.

"Hey!" Adrenalin suddenly flooding her system, Dawn jumped up to face her opponent. Or, rather, would have if she wouldn't have been held down. Still, she had time to turn her head and glare. "Ops?"

"Buffy?"

Hearing the confusion in Allison's voice, Buffy put her tray on the table, turning to her. "Allison, this is my very-much-in-trouble little sister, Dawn."

Having recovered from the shock of seeing Buffy hit a random person, Allison finally had time to look at the young woman opposite Dr Cuddy. When she did, she recognised her. Smiling, she held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Allison. Sorry, I didn't recognise you at first. Buffy has quite a few pictures of you in her apartment."

Dawn gave Allison her best smile. It never hurt to get as much help as possible if her sister was out for blood. Her blood. "Hi, nice to meet you too. Buffy talked about you as well."

Rolling her eyes, Buffy gave her sister a little nudge. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be studying? Read stuffy old books?"

"Yep." Seeing her sister's face darken, Dawn added quickly. "I mean I am. Brought tons of uni stuff with me and there's more work sitting in my email account. I just-" Dawn stopped and shrugged. "I just missed you?"

Hearing the honesty in Dawn's voice, Buffy huffed but pulled her into a hug. Only then did she realise how much she had missed her little sister in the past weeks. Not so much the annoying teenager but the young woman Buffy just realised Dawn had grown into. "Missed you too."

The two doctors exchanged a knowing smile while the two sisters hugged. Looking at her watch, Lisa sighed. "Sorry, I'm afraid I'll have to go back to work."

Exchanging a long look with Buffy, she gave her the tiniest of nods before standing up. Giving Buffy a small smile, she tilted her head, "Show those two your house tonight."

And then she was gone, leaving a bewildered Allison behind.

Smirking, Buffy pointed at the now vacated seat. "You might wanna close your mouth. It looks kinda odd, you know."

Allison did as she was told, sitting down and shutting her mouth. "How? Why? Wha- ... what's going on?"

"Oh!" Dawn piped up before Buffy could say anything. "I kinda run into the infamous Dr House and his mixed harem earlier. Lisa dropped in too."

Once again, Allison looked lost. Buffy, however, both feared and hoped she knew just when Dawn had run into them. "And?"

Covering Buffy's hand with her own, Dawn tilted her head before giving her a smirk. "Everything's five by five."

Buffy wasn't convinced. Rolling her eyes, Dawn continued, "I simply gave them something to think about. Lisa was pretty cool too, made sure everything stayed in that room."

"Hello?" Allison tried again. "Am still confused."

Buffy sighed, giving Allison a calculating look. Then she sighed again. "Interested in some house-hunting after work? Well, not so much hunting as having a look as I found the perfect house yesterday. We'll get some take-away on the way back and I'll explain everything?"

Allison nodded. Then an interesting thought crossed her mind, "Does this have anything to do with Chase being huggable?"

"Oh! Who's Chase? Who says he's huggable? Can I meet him?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"Stop drooling." Buffy slapped her sister playfully. "Allison's boyfriend. I. Maybe."

"Damn." Dawn looked sadly at her plate. "I'll never find a boyfriend at that rate."

"Good." Buffy didn't even look up but, having suddenly found her appetite, took a hearty bite from the first Reuben sandwich.

--

Cuddy rubbed her eyes tiredly. It had been a long day and it still wasn't finished yet. Time wise it wasn't all that late, but as it had been a rather eventful day, she was more than ready to go home.

Having seen Buffy in the cafeteria, or more precisely the defensive look in her eyes, had hurt. A lot. It had only helped marginally when Dawn had popped in later, telling her that Buffy was more or less alright.

And now she had to face the man who, in his false zeal, had hurt her daughter. Just the thought of the venom in his voice as he had talked about Buffy was enough to have her anger at him come back to the surface. Taking a calming breath, she looked at her watch.

4:59 p.m.

Hearing Wilson knock, she told him to enter. She didn't get up to walk around her desk to greet him like she usually would but remained in her chair, arms crossed in front of her. She kept her face emotionless as she looked at him while he walked over to her desk. Pointing to the chair in front of it, she waited till he was seated. Taking a closer look, she noticed the haunted look in his eyes.

Good. So he was feeling bad, or at least uncomfortable.

She didn't smile. Instead she looked him straight in the eyes, raising her eyebrows and willing him to start talking. She wasn't sure if she had her voice back under control yet.

"I … I'm sorry."

Cuddy almost laughed. Even House was better than this. Okay, she might be a bit biased, but Wilson had to do much better to appease her.

Thankfully he knew that too. Taking a deep breath, he started to talk but avoided to look Cuddy in the eyes. "Tara's mom, Debbie, and I spent the summer holidays at our granny's farm as kids. We were close, closer than I ever was with my own brothers. She was a couple of years older, but I didn't care. We always stayed in contact throughout the year, always busy planning our next summer together."

Wilson smiled wistfully, his unfocused eyes telling Cuddy that at this very moment he was reliving the past again. "Then we grew up. She had her first boyfriend, I preferred hanging out with the guys. Suddenly there was no time to go to granny's in the summer anymore. Then she started to date this guy, Michael. She was head over heels in love with him. I went to med-school, she married. She was a beautiful bride."

Wilson rubbed the bridge of his nose and stood up. Walking to the window he looked through the glass, unseeing. "You know how med-school is. There's not much time for anything else. We still wrote each other, though. But the letters became less frequent. Tara was already one year old, her brother even older, before I managed to visit them again. I was just about to get married myself, so maybe I just wanted to see Debbie still happy, still in love. After that I got regular updates on the kids."

Stopping for a moment, Wilson kept on staring into the outside world. Sighing, he eventually continued. "I didn't realise that the accompanying letters became shorter and shorter. Somehow we never came to the same family events. The last time I saw her was the funeral of our beloved granny. Tara was eight then. Debbie looked tired, but I just thought it was because of granny. Because she missed her… I really didn't know."

The last sentence was said with so much regret that Cuddy almost stood up to go to him and offer comfort. Almost.

Taking a shaky breath, Wilson continued his story. "Time just flew by. Suddenly Tara was a teenager. A moment later she was close to finishing high-school and I received a letter that Debby had died and I went to her funeral. It was the first time I had seen Tara for years. But I didn't stay, didn't even speak to her. She looked so much like her mom it hurt. So I left directly after the funeral."

Walking back to his chair, he plopped down tiredly. "Next time I called I was told Tara was dead as well. That she had been shot. That she had made the wrong friends, broke off contact with her family when her so called friends asked her to. Buffy Summers was the name that stood out. I was so angry when she turned up here."

Cuddy's anger was almost gone. She could hear in every word that he blamed himself, yet she kept her voice neutral. "And now?"

"I made a lot of calls today. I spoke to people I haven't seen in years." Wilson covert his face with his hands. "She was right. Buffy, I mean. Tara's dad had started hitting Debbie a few years into the marriage. Some had tried to help her, but she had been too scared. And he had left the kids alone. After Debbie had died, he had started the same with Tara. Even her brother had been against her. But Tara was strong. She left home for Sunnydale." Wilson laughed humourlessly. "Her father and brother went to bring her back home but she resisted. Just like Buffy's sister told us today."

Finally meeting Cuddy's eyes again he finished, "Buffy and her friends didn't kill Tara. They saved her."

Having finished, he slumped against the back of his chair with his eyes closed.

Cuddy sighed. Even if she wanted to she couldn't really chew him out now. It would be like kicking a defenceless puppy after all. Tiredly rubbing her face, she nodded. "Make sure House and his fellows understand this as well."

"I'm sorry."

Cuddy nodded. Remembering a comment from Dawn, she studied him closely. "Did you talk to anyone else about this before? About Buffy, I mean?"

"No… only Dr Marmine. Why?"

Cuddy frowned. "You talked to her supervisor? Why?"

Wilson shrugged his shoulders. "He asked me if I knew her.". He sighed at seeing Cuddy's questioning look. "I'm not really sure what to think anymore."

"Wilson."

"He wanted to know more. Something about his fiancée being related to Buffy's boyfriend. His sister or something. He told me how he had died when he was with Buffy."

Cuddy gasped and could only stare as if Wilson had just grown a second head. "You've got to be kidding me!". Would her daughter ever get a rest? "Did he suggest you pursue this? Confront Buffy, accuse her of killing Tara?"

Now it was Wilson's turn to look flabbergasted. "No. Why would he do that?". Cuddy glared at him. "Maybe?" Wilson said finally. "I never really thought about it that way."

"Next time you see him, set him straight about Tara. Do _not_ mention today. Neither the conference room, nor this meeting."

"Okay."

Rubbing her face again, Cuddy sighed and her voice softened considerably. "Go home. You look like hell."

Wilson couldn't agree more – he certainly felt like he'd just been there.

--

_A/N: Happy Holidays, everyone! My brain was on holiday when I booked my flight home, so I had five hours to kill while waiting for my connecting flight (basically, taking a train would have been slightly faster). This chapter is the result of it, so I guess you aren't as mad as I am at my brain. LOL. Anyway, hope you liked it! _


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

If anything Buffy liked the house even more now than she had the previous night. It started to feel like home already, even though she hadn't even made an offer yet. She stayed quiet throughout their visit, listening to the easy conversations going on around her. Dawn and Allison got along well enough and seemed to have similar ideas of what Buffy would need in her new home.

The twins were playing their let's-confuse-our-guests game again, causing Buffy to smile whenever one of them would turn up from an unexpected place. She outright laughed when she saw the thoughtful look on her little sister's face. A second later Dawn instructed Allison to grab the boy next to her and then she started to tickle him. As soon as his deep belly laughs echoed through the house, his brother appeared and Dawn grabbed him.

"Got you!" Tickling him the same way Allison was doing with his brother, she gave Buffy a triumphant grin.

"Mommy! Help!" The boys cried out in unison before succumbing to another bout of laughter. Both women eased on their tickling efforts, but neither of them stopped completely.

"Nope," Jill Martens said, winking at Buffy. "I've told you often enough to stop confusing our guests." Leaning over to Buffy, she whispered, "Besides, they've got way too much energy to spent anyway. This is just as good an outlet as having them run around the garden."

"Are you sure?"

Jill nodded. "Don't worry. They love it!" She grinned. "I love it too. Doesn't cost me an ounce of energy but they get tired nevertheless."

When the boys finally had enough, all four of them – the boys, Dawn and Allison – were out of breath. Later, when it was time to leave, Buffy had the feeling she'd known the family for much longer than just the past two days. Enjoying this feeling of belonging, she was able to release more of the tension that had built during her day at work. When they reached her apartment, she was almost ready for a round of twenty questions with Allison. Only in this case Buffy would answer all the questions before Allison actually asked them.

--

The pizza was ordered and Dawn had finished snooping through the apartment. Buffy was sitting in the window, feet tucked under her body. Allison and Dawn were sitting opposite her, having made themselves just as comfortable.

"Buffy?" Allison looked at her friend; worry clearly showing in her eyes. "What happened today?"

"I guess my past caught up with me."

Allison scowled. "House! One of these days I'm going to … !"

Buffy couldn't help the small smile starting to play along her lips. "Do what? I hope it's something of the creative kind?"

"Uh oh! I could give you some ideas if you're interested?" Dawn visible bounced in her seat in excitement, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Grinning, Buffy nodded. "Yeah, better not get on her bad side or you'll find strange things happening to you."

"Like House finding himself with red hands? … And other colourful body parts?" Allison asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pictures?"

Buffy shook her head and smiled as Dawn groaned in disappointment. Then she frowned. Looking at Allison, Buffy asked curiously, "Other body parts?"

Allison blushed but nodded nevertheless.

"How do you know?" Buffy grinned. "I suppose you haven't actually seen _it_? Or _have_ you?"

With her eyes wide open, Allison vigorously shook her head, her blush deepening even more. "No! Chase. He … ah … sort of saw it."

Dawn's and Buffy's eyes met – and both broke out laughing. Allison eventually saw the fun in the situation as well, or rather imagined what Chase had described to her, and joined into their laughter.

"See," Buffy said once they had calmed down a bit. "Better stay on Dawnie's good side – or expect weird stuff happening to you."

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "I had help. Besides, it was his fault. He shouldn't have broken into your apartment in the first place!"

"House broke into your apartment?" Allison was not impressed. "And you just let him be?"

Buffy shook her head. "The colouring came with a nice, strong itch. Besides, I expected something like this so I could prepare myself. If he tries to pull a stunt like this again, he'll have to bear the consequences again."

Allison's reply was cut short by the pizza delivery. While Buffy got out some plates and napkins, Dawn told Allison she should just leave it be. Buffy could handle House and they had more surprises for him if he tried something like this again. He would never go unpunished.

--

Dawn rolled her eyes as she watched Buffy pick on her last slice of pizza. Turning her attention to Allison, she told her what had happened earlier in the day in House's conference room. However, she immediately filled in the gaps, explaining everything in as much detail as possible.

Nodding to herself, Dawn waited for Allison's reaction once she was finished. Her sister hadn't looked at them the whole time Dawn had told the story. Instead, she had played with her fingers in her lap, dreading the outcome. Now Dawn watched satisfied as Allison stood up and went over to the window seat, sitting down next to Buffy.

Allison hugged her friend, telling her it wasn't her fault, that she should stop feeling guilty about it. Now she also understood why Chase had been worried about Buffy's outburst. Allison wasn't sure how she would have handled it, if she had been at the receiving end of such accusations. She gently lifted Buffy's chin, "So, am I huggable too?"

Buffy gave a small snort and wiped off the tears on her cheek. "Too bony."

"Hey!"

Allison slapped Buffy's arm while Dawn stared at her sister in bewilderment. Buffy never cried openly! Dawn closed her mouth when she noticed it was still wide open and gulped. "You really _are _pregnant!"

"Of course I am! Stupid hormones." Pouting a bit, she removed the remaining tears before gently stroking her tummy. "I already had to buy new clothes."

"Oh my god! I'm really gonna be an aunty!" Jumping up, Dawn rushed over to the window seat and gave Buffy a big hug. Stepping back, she tilted her head, scrutinising her sister from head to toe. "It suits you."

Buffy couldn't help it, her eyes filled with tears again. Dawn's smile grew. Gently removing the few escaped tears with her thumb, she pulled her sister in another, much gentler, hug. "It really does."

Allison had walked over to the mantelpiece to give them a bit more privacy. She looked at the pictures of Buffy's friends with different eyes now. She smiled at the ones showing Dawn and Buffy at different ages. It seemed like they were bickering in almost every one of them. Or had been just before the picture had been taken. She also looked at the pictures she knew now to be of Tara differently, looking for similarity between her and Wilson.

Turning around, she watched the two sisters sitting close to each other, touching as much as possible, while they whispered to each other. Deciding to give them more time, she took their used plates into the kitchen and put them into the dishwasher. She was just contemplating to leave for the night, when Dawn called her back.

"I should go…"

"Naw." Dawn patted the sofa next to her. "I don't think I can handle hormonal Buffy all by myself."

She had barely finished this sentence before a sofa cushion hit her. "Or violent Buffy," Dawn added, grinning at the two women next to her.

Shaking her head at the sisters, Allison sat down and watched them bicker some more. She used the time to think over the events of the day. Even though it had been a busy day in the ER, so much more had happened in her private life. Then she stopped and looked at Buffy and Dawn in confusion. "You know Dr Cuddy."

"I work in her hospital?" Buffy offered, knowing she was going to tell Allison the truth – sort of – anyway. But it didn't mean she couldn't have a bit of fun beforehand.

"What about Dawn?"

"Oh, I know!" Dawn offered cheerfully. "We talked on the phone a while back."

If anything, Allison's confusion increased even more. "Why?"

"You did?" Buffy couldn't remember either.

Dawn nodded. "I sort of walked into Giles' office when she was talking to him a while back."

"Giles?"

Grinning, Dawn stood up and got a picture from the mantelpiece. Handing it to Allison, she plopped down again. "Giles. He's more like our father than our real one ever was. I work part-time for his organisation now. Lisa had some contact with him a long time ago. She asked him for help recently and I just happened to be there."

"O-kay." Allison looked at the picture in front of her and smiled. Giles was standing amidst a group of teenagers, looking uncomfortable and proud at the same time. And he was old enough to have known Lisa Cuddy a long time ago. "What kind of work is that?"

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "Lots of different things. I'm research girl. I'm looking for certain information in old books, translating them, stuff like that. I'm studying several languages right now."

Allison raised her eyebrows. "Languages?"

"Dead ones," Buffy explained. "Very dead and boring ones."

Dawn leaned to Allison, stage whispering, "Important rule of siblinghood – you just managed to find something that you're better at than your sibling? Make sure to increase the gap in ability and then rub it in. Repeatedly."

Allison giggled while Buffy huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Squinting her eyes, Buffy looked at her sister. "I'm way better at beating up your boyfriends."

Now it was Dawn's turn to pout. Looking at Allison, she complained, "One little mistake and now all the good one's are either in a relationship or scared of my sister."

Staring from one sister to the other, Allison squinted her eyes. "You're kidding, right? Beating up boyfriends?"

Buffy dismissed her sister's complaint with an innocent grin. "Only the bad ones."

"Welcome to my life." Dawn sighed theatrically.

Buffy hit Dawn with the cushion again but refrained from making another comment. Allison smiled wistfully. Even though she had an older sibling herself, she and her brother had never been as close as the two in front of her.

"You know," Dawn started before Buffy could hit her again, "Maybe you should tell her about the high school gym too. I mean this one really came from House."

Allison winced. "Do I even want to know?"

Dawn nodded while Buffy shook her head. Ignoring Buffy, Dawn smirked, casually leaning back on the sofa. "Better we tell her than House does."

Buffy squinted her eyes at her sister but didn't say anything. Instead, she got up and vanished into the bathroom. Her passenger, as small as he still may be, had found the pressure point on her bladder.

By the time she came back Dawn was making some snacks while Allison was going through her stack of DVDs. Dawn just told her to get comfortable as it was time for a chick-flick or two. If Allison had thought that the bickering between the two siblings would cease during the movie, then she had been wrong. In fact, it didn't take long before she found herself right in the middle of it as well. If anything, she could get used to it.

And, in between all the bickering and movie watching Allison also heard the story of Buffy burning down her high school gym.

--

With the movie over, the three of them were sprawled on the sofa, their feet up on the small table in front of them. Next to them were several empty bowls that had once contained popcorn, chocolates and other sweets.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to move again," Allison groaned with her eyes closed.

Dawn turned her head to look at the young doctor. "Don't tell me you've never had way too much sweets at once?"

Allison shook her head sheepishly. Dawn and Buffy chuckled – then Buffy's tummy decided to join the conversation as well and growled. Loudly. "You've got to be _kidding_!"

Buffy got up and shrugged her shoulders. "She's a bottomless pit," Dawn said in mock disgust and earned herself another glare.

Coming back with a large sandwich in her hand, Buffy switched off the telly and sat down across from Dawn and Allison. She chewed thoughtfully, wondering how best to start. In the end she went with one of her favourite tactics – blurt it out at the most inappropriate moment.

"Lisa Cuddy is my biological mother."

--

_A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! _


	35. Chapter 34

_"Lisa Cuddy is my biological mother."_

**Chapter 34**

Allison, who had just taken a sip of her juice, spit everything out again. With her mouth hanging wide open, she stared at Buffy, unable to move even the tiniest muscle. After a minute or so, Dawn rolled her eyes and gently closed Allison's mouth.

Buffy smiled lopsidedly. "I didn't know until recently either."

"How?"

"It's complicated." Taking a deep breath, Buffy told Allison the official version of Lisa getting pregnant. How she later had been tricked into giving up her baby for adoption even though she hadn't really wanted to. How she had been unable to find her baby later on. How Buffy had accidentally found her adoption papers and how she and her friends had been able to track her biological mother. It was as close as they could get to the actual truth without opening a whole new can of worms.

Allison was predictably shocked at the story behind it. But she was just as honoured that Buffy would trust her with a secret like that and she promised to not tell anyone else. This also included Chase in general – and House especially.

Looking at her watch, Allison stood up. "I better go if I want to get any sleep at all tonight."

They all hugged goodbye and Buffy went to open the apartment door for Allison – only to come face to face with her mother.

Allison almost shrieked. "Dr Cuddy!"

Lisa looked at her daughter. "Hi. Can I come in?" Buffy stepped back so her mother could pass her. Lisa turned to Allison; "I guess you can call me Lisa now."

Allison nodded dumbfounded. Hearing Lisa Cuddy was Buffy's birth mother and actually _seeing_ them together was quite a big difference.

"Is something wrong?" Dawn asked from the back of the room, drawing everyone's attention towards her.

Lisa sighed and put her arm around Buffy's shoulders. "It's more like an unexpected development."

Dawn snorted. "Is there ever an expected development?" Standing up, she got another glass for Lisa and set it down in front of her. "So, what's up?"

"Maybe I should go…"

Buffy looked at Lisa who shrugged her shoulders. "It involves the hospital."

Groaning, Buffy pulled Allison back onto the sofa. If it had something to do with the hospital, then Allison might just as well know about it. "Wilson?"

Lisa shook her head. "Not really. Though it has something to do with a comment he made."

"You mean you let him go?" Dawn looked disappointed at Lisa, taking Buffy's hand into hers. "After all he's done today?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Lisa told them in detail about her talk with Wilson that afternoon – but left out the information about Marmine. No one said anything for a while once she was done. In the end it was Allison who spoke up first, "That sounds more like the Dr Wilson I know. I still can't believe how he behaved earlier."

"But that's not really why you are here, is it?" Buffy asked her mother thoughtfully.

Lisa sighed and told them about the connection between Marmine's fiancée and Buffy's Mark. The longer Buffy listened, the colder her eyes, the harder her expression became. When Lisa was finished she stood up and, without saying a single word, vanished into her guest bedroom serving as training room as well.

"Don't." Dawn shook her head at the two other women in the room. Looking around, she spotted the stereo and switched it on. "Music, anyone?"

--

House looked at the door in front of him but didn't bother to knock. Instead, he got the spare key Wilson had - unknowingly - provided him with and opened the door. He didn't call out for his friend. He just put his helmet down and walked straight into the living room. Ignoring Wilson, House continued to the kitchen where he got himself a beer from the fridge. Seeing a couple of untouched sandwiches he put them on a large plate and took them back to the living room as well.

Sitting down next to Wilson on the sofa, House started eating one of the sandwiches. Glancing at Wilson who had yet to move House shrugged his shoulders and nicked the remote control from his friend's hand and searched through the channels until he found a football match. Sipping his beer, House enjoyed his sandwich and watched the football.

"Hungry?"

Wilson didn't move but kept staring at the photo in his hand. House shrugged his shoulders again and grabbed the second sandwich. After all, it wasn't the sandwich's fault that Wilson ignored it. So, in order to prevent any sense of inferiority in the poor thing, House took pity on the sandwich and ate it. With the food and his beer gone, he looked at Wilson again. He wouldn't really have bothered, but there was a commercial break on the telly and he was bored.

Wilson hadn't moved since the last time House had looked at him. So he poked him. Just to make sure he was still alive, of course. Wilson made a non-committal sound but otherwise ignored his friend. House tilted his head, and then snatched the photo from Wilson's hand.

"Hey!"

"He speaks!" House said in mock-surprise. He leaned to the side as Wilson was trying to grab the photo. It showed a younger Wilson with his arm around a woman and her small daughter. You didn't need to be a genius to figure out that this was his now dead cousin and her just as dead daughter, Tara. Rolling his eyes he was about to hand the photo back when he realised something else.

The woman looked familiar. And not just in an I'm-related-to-James-Wilson kind of way. Snorting, he gave the picture back. "You're an idiot."

"I didn't even know. I phoned some people today and asked them. They suspected abuse but I didn't even know." Wilson, sounding defeated, hid his face in his hands.

House rolled his eyes and stood up to get himself another beer. "You were just too busy getting married. Or divorced."

Wilson didn't even protest at House's nonchalant answer. "I know nothing about my own family. And we've been so close as children."

Setting a beer in front of Wilson, House took a long sip of his own bottle. "You could always ask Buffy to contact Tara's ex-girlfriend."

"What?" Wilson barely avoided spitting beer all over the couch table in front of them.

House raised a mocking eyebrow. "Prude?" Chuckling, he continued, "The kid looked like her mom. I've seen a picture of her with a hot redhead in Buffy's apartment."

"What where you doing in Buffy's apartment?" Wilson asked shocked. Then he remembered who was sitting next to him. "Never mind."

House waggled his eyebrows. "They looked _so-o_ in love."

"Shut up."

"Want to get drunk?"

Wilson sighed. It sounded like a great idea. "Whiskey?"

"Yup."

--

It took Buffy less than ten minutes to break her shiny new punching bag. With her bare hands. Unfortunately, it didn't help much to dim the anger at Marmine's deceit. She hadn't heard anything from Mark's family, not even a warning from Mark's cousin Linda who came to his funeral, so she hoped he hadn't told them yet. Not that it mattered much.

Putting the broken punching bag aside, she took her favourite sword and started a routine she had often done in Mark's presence. After he first saw her performing it, he had told her that it looked like she became one with the sword with its blade being a natural extension of her arm. He told her it was the most beautiful dance he had ever seen.

He had often watched her after that, but this routine had always been his favourite. So she did it again. And again. It took a while but she eventually calmed down. Stopping, she closed her eyes, put her hands on her tummy and listened to her baby's heartbeat. She couldn't help but smile when she heard the well-known 'bum-bum-bum-bum'.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked back into the living room.

Dawn stood up without uttering a word, bringing Buffy a glass of fresh water. Waiting till her sister had drained it, she took the glass back and gave Buffy a big hug. "Better?"

Buffy nodded and gave Lisa and Allison a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Walking to Buffy, Lisa kissed the top of her sitting daughter's head. "Do you want me to throw him out?"

Smiling at the warm fuzzy feeling spreading insider her, Buffy shook her head. "It'd be a bit suspicious without good reason, huh? I can handle it. Besides, I don't think he has told his fiancée yet and he hopefully keeps it that way."

"I'm still going to have a word with him," Lisa said grimly. "It doesn't matter if you're my daughter or not, he did cross a line as a hospital employee. And that is something I won't let pass so easily."

Buffy squeezed her mother's hand and kissed her cheek. "Thanks."

Watching her sister and mother together, Dawn couldn't help the small stab of jealousy manifesting itself in her chest. Leaning over to Allison she stage-whispered, "Is it just me or are you tempted to tell them to 'Get a room!' too?"

"Dawn!" Even though she was a bit appealed, Allison didn't quite manage to stop herself from snickering. Buffy picked up a small cushion and, without even looking in their direction, threw it at her younger sister.

Lisa stepped between the two sisters before Dawn could reply. Holding up both her hands, she looked from Buffy to Dawn and back. "Stop! Both of you. I get enough of that from House in the hospital."

Dawn and Buffy looked at each other in astonishment at the authority in Lisa's voice. Then they started giggling. "We should send Giles for some lessons."

Groaning, Lisa squinted her eyes at Buffy. "I am _not_ like Giles."

"Nope," Buffy said seriously. "You're much better."

Lisa huffed and, crossing her arms in front of her chest, plopped down onto the nearby armchair.

Allison watched the three interact and just seeing Dr Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine of the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, act so differently made her head spin. Add to this all the things she had learned this evening and it was no wonder that her head started to hurt. Sighing, she stood up and smiled at the room in general. "I better leave before my head explodes."

"That would be messy."

Dawn was quick to agree with her sister. "Yeah. And I'm so not doing the cleaning. I'm done with that!"

Allison blinked. Then she blinked again and shook her head. "You two are weird."

"Thanks," they replied in unison. Buffy stood up and hugged Allison. "And thanks for being a friend. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Allison turned around again as she reached the door. Her hand already at the doorknob she chuckled. "You know, Buffy, Lisa might be your mom but Dawn looks and moves even more like Lisa than you do."

Even though Allison closed the door quietly behind her did the sound of the lock clicking into place echo through the silent room. Suddenly the two sisters started to talk at the same time, confusing Lisa even more.

"Information overload."

"Yeah, too much weird stuff."

"Probably needs her eyes checked too."

"Sleep deprivation."

"Not enough food. She's way too thin."

"Hallucinations."

"Food poisoning."

"_Stop_!" Lisa stood in front of the sisters, arms crossed, one foot tapping the floor impatiently. "What is going on?"

"Nothing." Once again, Buffy and Dawn answered simultaneously. "Everything's fine."

"Five by five even."

Lisa raised an eyebrow, her foot still tapping the floor.

"Really," Buffy said, her head bobbing up and down enthusiastically. "Another drink?"

Lisa shook her head but pointed for the sisters to sit down. Buffy and Dawn looked at each other for a long time. Dawn sat down eventually while Buffy went to pour a glass of whiskey. Then she sat on the armrest of Dawn's chair, absently swirling the amber liquid in its glass.

After having watched the silent conversation between the two young women Lisa was absolutely sure that there was something else going on. Her stomach must have thought along the same lines as it started to make some lovely knots with itself. Sighing, she sat opposite Buffy and Dawn. "Please?"

Buffy and Dawn exchanged another look. Dawn eventually shrugged her shoulders, giving Lisa a tiny and nervous wave.

"Hi Mom."

--

_A/N: I honestly didn't know this chapter was going to end like it did. I was quite surprised as I typed it out as I hadn't really thought when or even if Lisa would learn of Dawn's parentage. However, once it was there I couldn't stop giggling! Hope you are just as pleased as I am! I know we seem to be stuck on the same day like forever but so much happened that I hope you forgive Muse for it. But it's almost midnight, so there is still hope will move forward. Right?_

_Right. Thanks to whoever nominated this story for the TTH Crossing Over Awards! I received the email just after I missed out on getting some tickets I really wanted, so it truly made my day! _


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

"Whiskey?" Buffy handed her mother the glass without waiting for a reply.

Lisa grabbed the glass automatically, lifting it to her mouth – and put it down even faster when the smell made her nauseous. Looking at the two young women in front of her, she squeaked "_Hi Mom_?"

Dawn blushed deeply. "It kinda slipped?"

"It could have been much worse," Buffy was quick to point out. "She could have said something like _'Hi technically biological mother of mine'_!"

"Hey!" Dawn protested, giving Buffy a little push. Of course, with her sister being the slayer and all, this didn't work like planned. In fact, Buffy didn't move one single millimetre from the armrest of Dawn's chair. Instead, she looked at her mother, "Little sisters can be _so_ annoying!"

Lisa nodded absently, still being stuck on the _'Hi mom'_-bit of their conversation. She really wanted to drink the whiskey in front of her, but just reaching for the glass made her feel sick. In the end she just shrugged her shoulders and watched her daughter and ... her other daughter – because somehow she knew it to be right – bicker.

"How?" It was barely more than a whisper, but they heard her.

The two young women got up and sat down on either side of their mother, each taking one hand in their own. "It's complicated."

Lisa snorted and leaned back into the sofa, eyes closed and her hands still firmly held by her daughters. "The Watcher's Council?"

"No," Buffy said. "_That_ would be easy to explain: Quentin Travers gave in into his god-complex and messed up our lives as usual."

"Dawn?" Lisa turned her head to the side and watched the younger woman. She had been rather quiet in the last few minutes and now, finding herself scrutinised by Lisa, barely shrugged her shoulders.

"Buffy's been there. She can explain it better." Dawn yawned. "Besides, it's been a long day. I'm off to bed." Letting go of Lisa's hand, Dawn stood up and walked to the guestroom.

Buffy squeezed her mother's hand, shaking her head when she was about to get up. "Take my room," Buffy called after her sister and she was glad when she accepted the offer without questioning.

"It's a difficult topic for Dawn." Buffy sighed and turned on the sofa so she would face her mother completely. "Technically there was no Dawn until I was 19."

Lisa was getting frustrated with it all. "What's with all that _'technically'_? And don't start with it being complicated again!" Lisa closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"I know." Buffy squeezed her hand. "Right. Dawn started off as this mystical energy-thingy called The Key. All was fine and dandy until Glory turned up. She liked to be seen as a big bad hell-goddess - though I prefer the term _completely nuts hell-goddess_ myself - trying to use The Key for some major bad. The last survivors of a super-secret order of monks tried to prevent this by transforming The Key into a 14-year old human girl to be protected by a mystical warrior."

"The Slayer."

"Yep." Buffy laughed humourlessly. "They figured by making her of the slayer's blood, making her family, she would be more inclined to protect her."

"And they were right." It wasn't a question but a statement.

"I died for her."

Lisa was shocked. She almost hadn't heard Buffy's reply. Almost. She wanted to ask how. When. Why. But didn't really know if she was ready for the answers. Besides, her daughter was sitting right in front of her, so it had to be more of a metaphor than anything else. Right?

Somehow she didn't really believe it.

"Anyway," Buffy blinked and gave her mother a weak smile. "The monks changed our memories, added Dawn seamlessly into our life. But not long after Dawn entered our life, I tried to figure out something else and ended up with two sets of memories. The real ones without Dawn and the fake ones from the monks."

"Dawn knows," Lisa said in shock. Buffy nodded. "It must have been so hard to learn you weren't real!"

"Yes. Even though mom told her it didn't matter. I told her it didn't matter. Our friends told her it didn't matter. But being a teenager and learning you aren't what you thought you are? Worse, learning you were chased by a mad hell-goddess? And all on top of raging teenage hormones?" Buffy sighed. "She's much securer of her position in our lives now. But sometimes…"

Lisa nodded in understanding. But there was one thing she didn't get. "How can I be her mom, though?"

Both knew Lisa wasn't talking about maternal feelings but the actual biology behind it. "Dawn was made from me. You're my mom, so we figured that makes you her mom too." Buffy shrugged her shoulders.

Lisa frowned, mulling it over in her head. "Parthenogenesis? _Magical_ parthenogenesis?" she muttered to herself. Would that be possible in the first place?

However, Buffy heard it clear enough – and was more than confused. "Magical part-what?" she asked out loud.

Lisa looked up, surprised to find her daughter staring at her in astonishment. Then Buffy's last words registered. "Oh! I was just thinking," Lisa replied, smiling sheepishly.

"Care to share?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Right. Parthenogenesis is an asexual form of reproduction. Basically, the female's egg develops without the need of a male. I think there are still a few animals around that actually reproduce that way."

"But where's the fun in that!?"

"I know!" Lisa grinned at her daughter. "The point is, if that's really how they did it, then _you_ are technically Dawn's mom."

"What!?" Buffy all but squeaked. "You've got to be kidding!"

"Nope." Lisa continued to grin, shaking her head to emphasise her point even further.

Buffy kept staring at her mother as if she hadn't lost just one but all of her marbles. Slowly but surely she furrowed her forehead, muttering, "If those monks weren't dead already they so would be now."

Lisa started to rub her daughter's shoulders. "It's just a theory, you know."

Buffy kept grumbling with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Still smiling, Lisa stated, "Looks like if got two daughters, then."

"Huh?" Buffy looked up in surprise, her brows still furrowed. Then she smiled sheepishly. "Really?"

"Yep. Family is family, right?" Lisa chuckled. "Besides, mom at 16, grandma at 20? That's just so wrong!"

Lisa sounded so offended by the very idea of it that Buffy couldn't help but giggle. Moving so that she was now resting against her mother's shoulder, Buffy sighed in contentment. "We don't mention it to anyone, right? The possibility of Dawn being made through the par-thingy thing?"

"Okay."

They were just sitting in comfortable silence for several minutes, each of them lost in thought. They only came back to the present when Buffy's tummy started to rumble. Lisa just stared at her. "_Again_?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Pregnant slayer, remember?"

"Right." Lisa didn't sound too convinced. "Why don't you feed my grandchild while I go and talk to my other daughter?"

Buffy felt a warm and fuzzy wave of affection wash through her. Hugging her mother, she whispered, "Thanks. Mom."

Lisa hugged her daughter back just as tightly; rapidly blinking her eyes to prevent the threatening tears from falling. It took several attempts, but they finally were able to let go of each other, eyes almost dry. Giving Buffy a final squeeze, Lisa sent her to the kitchen to get some food before she walked towards the closed bedroom door.

--

Across town, Wilson had already passed out. He was sprawled across his sofa, his neck held at an impossible angle, and snored loudly. House was still conscious but had dragged himself into the armchair next to the couch. After Wilson had passed out – that man really needed to have a serious chat with his liver - House had gotten up and raided the fridge. What else were friends for?

Now with enough food in his system to have lasted two more dinners for Wilson, he was sober enough to start thinking again.

Buffy Summers.

Instead of answering his questions, each new titbit of information he found complicated matters even more.

He absolutely loved it.

Grinning, he took a sip of the last bottle of beer he'd found in Wilson's fridge. The cap had long been discarded by skilfully being thrown at Wilson.

There was no doubt that Buffy knew how to fight. He had already realised this a while ago and Buffy's sister had confirmed it earlier today. He still wasn't sure just why Buffy had chosen martial arts, but he knew it was rather to help than to start a career in crime. Or maybe just one of those getting a nicely shaped body… He snorted at the latter conclusion, knowing how far this was off the truth.

More interesting than her knowledge of martial arts, however, were the number of people turning up that she was connected to. She had been a friend of Wilson's cousin's daughter – until she had been shot in Buffy's home.

Then there was that idiot's – Marmine's – fiancée being the estranged sister of Buffy's dead fiancé. Wilson had been well on the way to being utterly drunk when he mentioned this little titbit and House just knew it to be right. It shed some new and interesting light onto Marmine's behaviour towards Buffy. As this information was still so new to him though, he had to ponder on what to do with it. He didn't just want to waste a great opportunity for creating mischief because he'd been impatient after all.

Last, and most interesting of all, was Buffy's connection to Cuddy. He might not have been sure of it at the beginning, but now he was. There was much more going on between them than either of them would tell him. He'd thought about it ever since Wilson had passed out earlier in the night. In fact, he had already made a mental list on what he knew; mentally updating the list he had hidden in his wardrobe at home.

They hadn't met until Buffy came to work at the hospital.

Cuddy hadn't recognised Buffy until something had happened and their relationship had changed dramatically over night. Almost going from _'Who are you?_' to '_I've known you all my life'_.

Buffy, on the other hand, had known who Cuddy was from the beginning. He was sure of it.

Which left only one conclusion. Well, several – but only one of them was scandalous and interesting enough for him to consider it to be true.

_Cuddy and Buffy were related._

As in cousins – only this just felt really wrong. As in sisters – naughty little parents having played outside of home. Only he knew Cuddy's parents and they were so not the type for it. As in aunt and niece – that didn't work either. And, his favourite, mother and daughter – naughty, naughty little Cuddy.

Quietly chuckling to himself, House finished his beer and got up, walking towards Wilson's bedroom. It didn't look like his friend was going to need it tonight and sleeping in a chair while he could have a king-sized bed all to himself was just wrong. After a quick stop at the bathroom, House popped a final Vicodin for the night and sank onto Wilson's bed with a sigh.

Already half-asleep, he thought about how to best get a DNA sample from Buffy. He already had one from Cuddy stored away – after all, you never knew when you needed a reference sample for a maternity test.

House fell asleep with a big grin on his face.

--

Cuddy took a deep breath and knocked at Buffy's bedroom door. "Dawn? Can I come in?" When there was no reply, she opened the door quietly and carefully felt her way to the bed. Even though the room was in darkness, the light filtering through the open door was enough for Lisa to see Dawn's form lying on the bed.

"Dawn?"

There was still no reply. Frowning, Lisa stepped up to the bed and took a closer look. Dawn was lying on her side, facing away from Lisa. She didn't make any sound, but her shoulders were shaking slightly. Seeing the young woman cry was all it took for Lisa's heart to swell with love for her. She sat down next to her, rubbing her shoulders reassuringly. "Hey."

Dawn sniffled, but didn't move. That didn't stop Lisa, though. She just grabbed Dawn's shoulder and gently turned her onto her back. "You know," Lisa said as a small smile played along her lips, "you should at least give me chance before you cry yourself to sleep over being stuck with a crappy mom."

Dawn stopped mid-sniffle, her eyes popping comically wide open as she stared at the woman leaning over her. She couldn't see all that much due to the darkness, but she _did_ see the smile on Lisa's face. The former Key blinked a couple of times while her brain processed what she had just heard. She really, really wanted to return the smile but the evil pessimist in her wanted, _needed_, to hear the words. "Really? You mean… ?"

Lisa smirked. "Come here, silly daughter of mine." Grabbing Dawn's arms, she pulled her into a hug. Dawn followed that order only too willingly.

Buffy, who was listening into the conversation from just out of sight, smiled and went into the guestroom to get the bed ready. It was late – or early – already and there was no way she'd let her mom drive home after the emotional upheaval she'd just been through.

Inside her bedroom, Dawn and Lisa were still holding onto each other. Dawn eventually pulled back and, after switching on the bedside lamp, said rather sheepishly, "Two for the price of one, huh?"

Lisa hadn't considered it this way – until now. Then again, considering how fate had had her lose her infant daughter so many years ago, it was only fair she had gotten back two. Right?

"Yep. And what beautiful and strong daughter's they are."

"Uh huh." Dawn nodded in agreement. "I'm beautiful and Buffy is strong."

Buffy obviously wasn't feeling the same way. "Hey!" she shouted from next door. Lisa and Dawn looked at each other before they dissolved into giggles. "Stupid slayer-hearing," Dawn complained good-naturedly.

"I can't find anything wrong with it," Buffy commented from the door. She quickly walked to the bed and sat down next to her sister and mother.

Dawn snorted before leaning closer to Lisa. "Try spending some alone-time with your boyfriend in your own room with that," she pointed playfully at her sister, "listening for any inappropriate noise!"

"If you'd chosen your so-called boyfriends more carefully it wouldn't have been necessary," Buffy replied half-sulkily.

"Because your track record is so much better!" Squeezing her sister's hand before she could misunderstand her, she added in a much softer voice, "Though Mark really made up for all the others. I mean, some – like Angel – were great big brother material too, just not right for Buffy for one reason or another." Like becoming evil after a moment of pure happiness.

"You loved him too," Lisa said in surprise.

"Yeah. He was the best," Dawn said sentimentally. Realising how that might have sounded, she quickly added, "Strictly in a lover-and-more-for-Buffy-and-big-brother-for-Dawn kind of way."

Buffy chuckled at the drolly tone of her sister's statement. "And you were his favourite brat."

Lisa leaned back and watched the two sisters, her daughters - for lack of interest in figuring out Dawn's exact blood relationship to them – bantering with a smile on her face. Then she shook her head.

Just what had she gotten herself into?

--

_A/N: Finally got this in a decent shape. Even better, this one eventful day is finally over… Phew. Thanks for reviewing! _


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

"Enter."

Marmine raised his eyebrows at the cold voice greeting him from within the office. It didn't need a genius to realise that the woman waiting for him was pissed off; though he was pretty sure he had stayed clear of her radar lately. Keeping his face as expressionless as possible, Cliff Marmine opened the door and entered.

Cuddy was sitting at her desk, staring – or, rather, glaring – at the file in front of her. She didn't look up or acknowledged him otherwise but kept shuffling papers.

Barely a minute later and Marmine didn't know what to do. The Dean of Medicine had called him to her office. She had told him to enter – he was absolutely sure he hadn't just imagined it – yet she seemed to be completely oblivious to his presence.

He cleared his throat as politely as possible.

Cuddy turned a page of the file.

He went from clearing his throat to coughing, louder this time.

Cuddy wrinkled her forehead. She knew exactly where Marmine was. In fact, she had no idea what kind of file she was looking at. But she wasn't ready to face him yet. Besides, being ignored could only do him good.

Marmine tilted his head, thoughtfully scratching his chin. He'd been up and about since early morning and his feet were asking for a rest. However, simply sitting down would be a sign of disrespect and he knew that, unlike House, he wouldn't get away with it. As, even though he was really good at his job, Marmine knew that he wasn't as brilliant as House. Or, in other words, he was simply easier to replace. Clearing his throat again, he took another step towards Cuddy's desk. "Dr-"

She held up her hand to stop him as soon as the first word had left his mouth. Cuddy was almost disappointed when he reacted promptly. Well, it seemed like she had to let him wait a little while longer. Grinning inwardly, she managed to focus on the file in front of her for the first time.

And almost broke out laughing.

She still had no idea what it was, but it was clearly upside down. Cuddy closed it without batting an eyelash and put it to the side. Then she grabbed the next one from the ever-growing pile on her desk. Making sure it was the right way around, she opened it and started to read.

A group of clinic patients had filed an official complaint about the treatment they had received by none other than Dr Gregory House. Resisting a groan, she quickly scanned over it, already thinking on how to best solve this. Luckily, she remembered the incident. House had made a group of clinic patients line up in front of him and played a round of speed-diagnosing and -treating. She had come by just as he was finished, and, deciding to better be safe than sorry and avoid possible repercussions from a wrong diagnosis, had seen to all of them herself. Unsurprisingly, she had come up with the exact same diagnoses House had.

"Uh, Dr Cuddy?"

Ops. It seemed like her tactics of ignoring Dr Marmine had worked out rather well – as she really had forgotten about him. Well, she would simply blame House. After all, it technically _was_ his fault that she had gotten immersed in the file. Satisfied with her conclusion, she looked at Marmine, an eyebrow raised questioningly. She did, however, remain silent.

"You wanted to see me?" Marmine really didn't like the look she was giving him. He almost felt moved back in time to his days as a young boy. His grandmother, a formidable woman who had been and still was very proud of her familial roots, had made it her goal to instil the proper manners into him. _She_ had given him the same look whenever he had appeared at any meal with the tiniest spot of dirt showing on any of his clothes or himself. Even as an adult, this certain look had the same effect on him as it had as a child. It made him feel like a failure and insignificant. He had hated it – and still did. Of course, after coming back spotless his grandmother had always giving him an appreciative nod – and then she had smiled a smile that made her stern features look ageless and never failed to give him a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Somehow, however, he doubted Dr Cuddy would give him a similar smile any time soon.

Cuddy almost smiled as she saw him react to the look she gave him rather unexpectedly. In fact, she could clearly read the contradictory emotions running across his features – shame, almost childish defiance, affection and puzzlement. She guessed they weren't directed at her but at a memory of the past. "Dr Marmine. What can I do for you?"

He frowned for a moment. "_You_ asked me to come and see you."

"I did, didn't I?" She loved this. She really, really did even though she knew she shouldn't – from the Dean of Medicine point of view anyway.

Cuddy motioned for Marmine to take a seat in the chair in front of her desk. Allowing her face to show open curiosity, she said, "It has been a while since our last conversation and I was wondering how, after your initial difficulties, Buffy Summers was coming along."

She could almost literally see the wheels starting to turn in Marmine's head – and not in a good way. "As good as can be expected, I suppose," he said casually.

Cuddy decided to play along for the time being. She wanted to see where this was going. "How so? Is she behind her co-workers or not as knowledgeable as she should be? Are there complaints from her patients?"

"Not really. The majority of patients seem to like her and she knows just as much the others. They all make the odd mistake, but also learn from them." Knowing that sticking to the truth as much as possible reduced the chance of being caught lying later on, he admitted, "We seemed to have had a few communication problems with each other, but they have been solved recently."

Cuddy raised a questioning eyebrow. She knew he was referring to his clash with Buffy merely a week ago, even though he didn't know that she did. What surprised her though, was that he openly admitted to it. If anything, it made her more cautious. "That is good to hear."

He looked down into his lap as if there was something more. Knowing the game, Cuddy asked, "But?"

"I don't know how to say this," Marmine looked up again, giving the impression of feeling uncomfortably in telling her, "but recently things started to vanish from the locker room my students and other staff are using."

"Go on."

"Only yesterday one of the nurses told me she thought she recognised previously stolen goods in Miss Summers' locker."

"How would she know?" Cuddy asked as she fought hard to push her anger back into the dark corner it had been coming from. There would be time for that later.

"Uh." Marmine swallowed and Cuddy had to admit that he was rather good at pretending to be uncomfortable. "She walked passed Miss Summers as she got ready to leave for the day and recognised an expensive handbag that had gone missing from her friend's locker the very same day. The nurse, I'm sorry but she didn't want to tell me her name, only stopped me because she knew I am Miss Summer's supervisor."

Cuddy made a noncommittal sound. "What else has gone missing and why haven't I been informed of the thefts?"

Marmine shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I'm not using those lockers and only know what I've been told by the nurse." Of course, there never had been a nurse telling him about seeing stuff in Summers' locker. The thefts, however, were really happening.

"Do you believe Summers is capable of stealing her co-workers' things?"

"I don't know," Marmine said so thoughtfully that Cuddy almost wanted to roll her eyes. "But-?" she prompted again.

"But, as you might remember from our last meeting, there was the break-in into her apartment a while back and she lost her laptop and other expensive things. Maybe she's trying to recover her losses?" He suggested carefully.

Ah. That would explain it then. Shaking her head, Cuddy looked straight at him, "So you have finally come to the conclusion that the burglary wasn't a fake after all?"

Eyes opening comically wide, Marmine started to stutter something unintelligible. Damn, he was such an idiot! Last time they had met, he had only admitted to reacting too harsh to her missed homework, but at the same time he had made it clear that he didn't believe Summers' excuse.

"Or," Cuddy continued without waiting for a reply, "Do you tend to bend the truth to suit you best?"

Even though it had seemed impossible at first, his eyes opened even further and Cuddy expected them to fall out of their sockets any second now. Seeing his shock, Cuddy went in for the kill. Rubbing her hands in obvious glee, she smiled sweetly at him and almost sing-songed, "You are fired."

Marmine gave a rather unmanly squeak. "What?"

Resting her forearms on the desk, her fingers interlaced, she leaned forward and squinted her eyes. "You. Are. Fired." Leaning back in her chair again, Cuddy relaxed and smiled pleasantly at him. "Oh, and I wouldn't expect a good character reference either."

"But … but I didn't do _anything_!"

His squeaks were starting to grate on her nerves, but she kept her saccharin smile in place. "Hmm. That's interesting. Here I thought you were just accusing Buffy Summers of theft. Without having any evidence, I might add."

"But the nurse-"

"Never stopped to talk to you about the thefts. In case you're interested, there's been a severe shortage of locker space for female support staff. So Buffy Summers and a couple of others have been moved to the Intern's locker rooms," Cuddy explained with a pleasant voice, looking very pleased with her.

Marmine gulped visibly, his face going from red to pale and back to red within seconds. He was so screwed.

"And then," Cuddy continued, "is the issue of implying Buffy Summers being a killer."

"But she is," Marmine replied, crossing his arms in front of him defiantly. Finally he'd be able to get some sort of control back! "You weren't there, but she openly _admitted_ it yesterday. Just ask Dr Wilson, Dr House or his new fellows!"

"Oh, I have." She was still smiling sweetly – and Marmine started to get seriously creeped out by it. "Dr Wilson actually relayed some very interesting information to me."

"Huh?"

Great. The squeak was back. Rolling her eyes, Cuddy continued, "One, Buffy Summers didn't kill anyone. Neither Wilson's cousin nor your fiancée's brother."

"What?"

"Would you stop _squeaking_ already?" Cuddy quickly stood up and, with her hands resting on her desk, leaned towards him – using the height advantage of her standing over his sitting form rather impressively. "My ears would greatly appreciate it!"

Cuddy sat down just as quickly as she had stood up, her saccharine smile back in place as if nothing had happened.

Marmine, on the other hand, cowered into his chair.

"Where were we?" Cuddy asked more rhetorically than anything else. "Right. _One_, Buffy Summers didn't kill anyone. _Two_, offering jobs for personal benefits are unethical and deeply frowned upon. _Three_, abusing your powers to punish a subordinate without reasoning is a big no-no. _Four_, making up facts in order to accuse someone else of stealing is just as wrong. Hence, _you are fired_."

Marmine actually whimpered.

Her pleasant smile never leaving her face – even though she was afraid her muscle would freeze in that position and she'd have to go through the rest of her life with that stupid smile in place – Cuddy finished, "So, you were saying?"

--

Dawn and Buffy giggled as their mother re-enacted this morning's meeting with Marmine. Lisa had invited them for a girls' night in to her place and both had readily accepted. Dawn had to fly back in a few days and she wanted to spend as much time as possible with Lisa. And Buffy, of course.

"Wow. Remind me to never get onto your bad side!" Dawn said with admiration. "What a jerk!"

"Yep," Lisa gave them a genuine smile. "Of course, I couldn't really fire him."

"Huh?" Dawn looked so confused, that both Buffy and Lisa broke out laughing. Dawn put on her best pout. "Hey! Laughing at the not-knowing person is just wrong!"

Lisa raised her eyebrows before dissolving into another fit of giggles. "And I thought Buffy's pout was good!"

Immediately appeased by that comment, Dawn grinned right back. "It is…. But mine is _perfect_!"

After an impromptu – albeit short – pillow fight with the sofa cushions, the young women relaxed once more, waiting for Lisa to explain the whole story.

"Well, that's what I dreamt last night. It was really creepy," Lisa said, her body shuddering involuntarily. "I opened the same file as in my dream. Worse, I even knew what Marmine was thinking!"

"Eww!" Dawn and Buffy said in unison, both pulling disgusted faces as well.

"And it was so close to the truth too!" Lisa shook her head in disbelieve. "That's what was so creepy. So, as soon as I realised the meeting went almost exactly like my dream, I loaded the hospital's ethical guidelines onto my computer, marked certain passages and printed them out. And, instead of saying '_You. Are. Fired._' I handed him the printout and suggested he thought long and hard about his behaviour. I also printed out the registration form to the next offered course on work ethics – and suggested he'd attend it in his own time, paid out of his own pocked."

Dawn frowned, "But why didn't you fire him?"

"As much I would have liked it, no," Lisa shook her head. "I really liked the way my dream ended better."

"Me too."

"But I couldn't really fire him because he'd have a moderate chance of winning an appeal against it. Buffy being my daughter would give him a good leverage to start with. In the end it could get really ugly and the hospital's board of directors would probably want to make a deal. Marmine would get a slap on the hand but could keep his job," Lisa explained.

"So the way you handled it is far less messy."

"Yes. He knows that I'll be watching but as long as he understands this and behaves accordingly, he'll get away without a reprimand that could negatively influence his career."

"So he gets off lightly," Dawn said unimpressed.

"Maybe," Buffy said, patting Dawn's knee reassuringly. "But he'll be more inclined to leave me alone as well. He knows he's treating on very thin ice. I rather prefer this than him being all pissy about it and making my life hell while the appeal is going on."

"You're okay with it?" Dawn asked. "Both of you?"

Mother and daughter shared a look before they nodded in unison.

"You know, Buffy, this pregnancy makes you all soft and mushy."

Buffy grinned. "Yep."

Dawn giggled at the goofy smile on her sister's face before she became serious again and sighed. "I still don't like it."

Lisa ruffled Dawn's hair, earning herself a dirty look. "I know. But I can't help the feeling that House just found a new victim to annoy."

That idea lifted Dawn's mood immediately. "Really?"

"Oh yes," Lisa chuckled at the satisfaction in Dawn's voice. "He has the cunning ability to know which people he can annoy the most without me stopping him."

However, as much as she was looking forward to see Marmine becoming House's favourite toy, it would be her who had to pick up the pieces in the end. It might be fun seeing House do what she wanted but couldn't do – but she would also have to pay for it. And, judging by the mischievous twinkle appearing in Dawn's eyes, she figured keeping her away from House for the remainder of her stay would be a very good idea too.

"So," Buffy said with the same mischievous twinkle in her eyes as her sister, "House is cunning, huh?"

--

_A/N: So, I started several times as I didn't really know how to best write this chapter. Hope you like the result! Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and to everyone who voted for me to keep both my stories in the race for the COA! Muse was very pleased. Although, looking at some of the stories left in my categories, she rather feels like hiding under my bed… But I'll keep promising her chocolate so she'd still tell me who to continue :P!_


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

House was biding his time.

He already knew how to get the DNA sample he needed for the maternity test and even though he'd love to get his little scheme running immediately, he decided to try something else. Like building up a bit of anticipation. Though not too long, mind you. Just for a few days. Besides, it also had the benefits of escaping Cuddy's watchful eyes.

The morning after the big showdown in his conference room, Cuddy had called him into her office. She had warned him not to talk about the previous day's incident. Repeatedly. Neither was he to do something about Buffy's and Wilson's involvement in the whole thing.

He had left her office with a big grin on his face. Yep. Cuddy and Buffy were related.

Of course, just because he was following Cuddy's orders for once – not because she wanted him to but because it was part of his plan – didn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself in other ways.

Like stalking that idiot Marmine and getting lots of useful information on him, his fiancée and, most importantly, her family. Although, he had to admit he was disappointed with one thing. Cuddy hadn't ripped him a new one. True, he had been summoned to her office – but he had left rather intact afterwards.

Despite this House could have sworn there was steam coming out of her ears every time she caught sight of Marmine. Yet there had been no blow-up. And it wasn't for _his_ lack of trying. Having learned Marmine's schedule by heart, House more than once managed to lure Cuddy to an unsuspicious area of the hospital just in time to have her cross Marmine's path.

Oh, she had glowered. And there had been the aforementioned steaming ears. But she hadn't erupted. If it wasn't for her obvious struggle to keep herself in check whenever she saw Marmine, House might have thought again about his assumption of Cuddy being related to Buffy. Maybe.

Grinning evilly – and scaring the hypochondriac currently babbling at him in examination room two to death by doing so – House decided to raise the stakes.

--

Lisa thoughtfully closed her bottle of water, staring unseeingly out of her office window.

Dawn was as much her flesh and blood as Buffy was. She didn't need a blood test to confirm this. It was just like Allison Cameron had observed already; Dawn was much more like her in appearance and demeanour than Buffy was. If anything, the last few days in Buffy's and Dawn's presence had shown her as much.

Then there was Allison Cameron herself. When she had first met her, Cuddy never thought Cameron would survive for as long as she had. She had been too nice. Too sensitive. Too gullible. Too much in awe of House.

But, to Cuddy's astonishment, that had changed. The 'too' in front of nice and sensitive had vanished, the gullibility had gone almost completely – even if she made most people believe that she was still too naïve and easy to take advantage of. But, unbeknownst to them, she deliberately used it to her advantage.

Yes, she was still looking for the best in each person, but she now accepted that sometimes people simply weren't nice. Also, although she still looked up to House for his ability to diagnose the most obscure cases, she wasn't in awe of him anymore. In other words, she had become a better doctor and much more secure person during her time with House.

And now she had become a good friend of Buffy. Her daughter had told her once that she found Allison's general positive outlook on most things fascinating as it was a stark contrast to her own experiences. That she found Allison's ability to see the good in almost everyone reassuring as it meant that her fight against the creatures of the night wasn't in vain. That it actually made for a better world for most of mankind.

Most of all, Allison brought back a sense of normality to Buffy's life that she had missed since Mark's death. Only last night Buffy had admitted to her and Dawn that Allison was the first normal, none-_Vampire & Co., Inc._-initiated, female friend she had. That this kind of friendship was something Buffy had unknowingly craved for a very long time. And that now, with the baby on the way, this was something she needed more than ever.

Cuddy blinked a lone tear away. The thought of her daughter craving something as simple as this made her heart ache in a way only a mother's heart could ache. Somehow it made her feel like she had failed her own flesh and blood – despite knowing there was nothing she could have done. Even if the Council hadn't stolen her daughter from her, Buffy would still have been called as the Slayer.

And, if she was truly honest with herself, Cuddy feared she would have gotten her own daughter killed. Not because she _wouldn't_ have understood Buffy, but because she _would_ have. Cuddy would have done anything to protect Buffy, even if it meant to help her fight. Learning more and more about her daughter, Cuddy also knew that this would have been their demise.

Helping Buffy would have meant to put herself into danger.

Putting herself into danger would have meant for Buffy to have one more person to worry about. And not just any person, but her mother.

A worried Buffy would have meant a distracted Buffy.

And, in the end, a distracted Buffy could have easily, and eventually would have, led to a dead Buffy.

Being so caught up in her own thoughts, Lisa didn't hear the knock on her door. Or hear it opening and quietly close again. Or hear the lock being turned.

--

Dawn smiled as she left the ER. She had raided the mall for baby stuff in the morning and then had come to the hospital and shown said stuff off to Allison, as Buffy had been busy. Allison had only been too ready for a break when Dawn appeared and, as it had been fairly quiet, had managed to go on a short break.

Taking Dawn to a small staff room, they both had 'oh-ed' and 'ah-ed' over the tiny clothes and cuddly toys. Allison had downright laughed when Dawn produced a baby-sized stuffed Count Dracula. Dawn had pouted good-naturedly and told Allison that if she wasn't going to hold onto it until the baby was born, so she could give it to Buffy in Dawn's stead in case she was still in tweed-country, she would never ever share her ice cream again.

Yep, it had been fun goofing around with Allison.

But now she was on another mission. Finding House. In the last few days Lisa had tried rather hard to prevent Dawn from coming to the hospital for a visit. Too hard, where Dawn was concerned. Then a little conversation with Buffy last night had shed some more light onto it. Dawn couldn't help but grin.

According to Buffy, their mother might simply be too scared of what she and House would come up with. After all, Buffy had told Lisa a lot about the pranks they used to and still did play on each other – and whose idea Buffy's special break-in security had been. So, Buffy had concluded, Lisa might just be afraid to bring the two pranksters – House and Dawn – together in case they started talking and got strange ideas, creating havoc in Lisa's hospital. In fact, after Buffy had explained this to her, she had gotten this far-away look in her eyes and then told Dawn to stay away from the hospital. No matter what.

Barely preventing herself from skipping to the open clinic to see if House was there, Dawn was almost passed Lisa's office already when she saw her mother's hunched figure staring out the window. Yearlong experience told her that, most likely, something was bothering her. Chewing on her bottom lip, Dawn contemplated her options. She could give Lisa time and space to work it out herself or she could intrude and try and help. Even if Lisa's problem might be completely hospital related.

Dawn was still thinking when Lisa's secretary stood up and quickly hurry away, vanishing into the nearest bathroom. The former Key shrugged and quickly entered the anteroom to Lisa's office.

--

Lisa literally jumped when a hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you," Dawn said sheepishly, blushing slightly.

"Oh!" Lisa took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart. "Oh. I didn't hear you come in."

"I didn't notice," Dawn deadpanned, drawing a weak smile from her mother. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Lisa shook her head, walking back to her desk and getting ready to sit down.

"No," Dawn said quickly. "Couch."

Shrugging her shoulders, Lisa let herself be let over to the couch.

Once seated, Dawn studied her mother in concern. "Since when does _nothing_ make you cry?"

"I didn't-" Lisa stopped when her fingers touched her cheeks and found them covered in tears. "I hadn't noticed."

"Uh huh." Dawn shuffled closer and took Lisa's hands in hers. "Spill." Frowning, she added as an afterthought, "Unless it's some really, really gooey and icky hospital thing."

Lisa couldn't help but chuckle at the look of utter disgust on Dawn's face. "And here I got the impression you're used to all sort of icky and smelly demon goo?"

"Exactly." Dawn said while wrinkling her nose with a shudder. "I don't need to hear about the human stuff too." Raising her eyebrows, she looked at Lisa expectantly.

Sighing, she finally admitted, "I've been thinking."

Dawn groaned in mock-despair. "That's when things go wrong!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry." Dawn made a zipping motion over her mouth, nodding for her mother to continue. However, she couldn't help the smile as she noticed a matching one on her mother's face. Which meant it couldn't be all that bad, right?

"I've been thinking how things would have been different if the Council hadn't stolen Buffy," she admitted quietly.

Oh boy. So much for it not being bad. Well, it could turn out either way, depending on the conclusion – if any – Lisa had come to. Her smile never leaving her face, she nodded encouragingly for her mother to continue.

So Lisa did, explaining her thoughts to her younger daughter. It was funny, really, how – despite knowing Dawn was technically Buffy's – she had readily accepted her as her own daughter. Although she kept that little detail to herself.

In the end, Dawn was just as emotionally involved as Lisa, both their faces spotting a couple of tear tracks. Leaning over, Dawn hugged Lisa. Hard. "Thank you."

Lisa stared at Dawn in confusion. "Why?"

"For understanding." Dawn explained. "Mom would have liked you, you know."

"She did a great job with the two of you," Lisa said. "I think I would have liked her too."

Nodding, Dawn hugged her again. Leaning back, she tilted her head to watch the emotions playing on Lisa's face. "It doesn't make it any easier though, huh?"

Unsuccessfully fighting a fresh bout of tears, Lisa shook her head. Dawn went through her bag for a clean tissue and handed it to Lisa who nodded gratefully. "Sorry, I don't know where all those tears come from."

"Emotional overload?" Dawn suggested cheekily. "Cause, you know, getting two beautiful, clever and amazing daughter's for the price of one would make anyone cry!"

Laughing, Lisa removed the latest tears from her face, shaking her head at the silly grin Dawn was giving her. "How did you get in here anyway? My secretary wouldn't just have you let pass without an announcement."

"Well, you see, I was conspiring with Allison and just on my way out when I passed your office. I didn't want to disturb you or anything but your secretary suddenly jumped up and ran out, wearing a very funny _'My bladder is going to burst if I don't go now'_-face. So I kinda sneaked in without her noticing."

"Sneaky."

"Yep. That's me. I'm a younger sister, remember?" Dawn winked at her mother. "Sneakiness is an absolute requirement in passing the annoying-little-sister exam."

Snorting, Lisa ruffled Dawn's hair in affection. "I'll remember that. But conspiring with Allison? You're not corrupting my employees, are you?"

"Who, _I_?"

"Uh huh."

"Never," Dawn exclaimed wholeheartedly. "I just gave her something to hold on to for me. You know, in case I'm not here when the baby is born." Dawn nodded innocently. "See, completely harmless!"

"Why am I not convinced?" Lisa asked suspiciously.

"Because Buffy can't keep her mouth shut and told you about a few little explorations of mine?" Dawn offered cheekily. Before Lisa could reply, Dawn got up and walked towards the door. "Anyway, gotta go now. See you tonight, right?"

Lisa only had time to give her a quick nod before Dawn vanished through the door.

Yep. She was definitely up to something. Well, she'd just have to wait and see.

Sighing, Lisa got up and went to the small bathroom, repairing any damage her rampant emotions had done to her make-up.

--

After leaving her mother's office, Dawn went to the open clinic, seeing if she could spot House. Of course, that would have been too easy. However, as luck would have it, she came across two of the people who had been in the conference room with him the other day. Quickly hiding behind a pillar, she listened in to their conversation, hoping to get a clue as of where to find him.

Smiling when they vanished around a corner, she slipped out of her hiding place and towards the stairs.

They had mentioned something about closed blinds and locked office doors. Glancing at her watch, she grinned. Buffy had told her of his obsession with General Hospital and which happened to be aired at this very minute.

Arriving at his office, she knocked and tried to open it. But, just like the fellows had said, it was locked and the closed blinds prevented her from looking in. Putting her ear against the door, she could hear some faint noises coming from inside.

Grinning, she took the lock-picks she had so conveniently put into her pockets and – after making sure no one was paying particular attention to her - opened the doors to House's office within a few seconds.

Entering, she grinned cheerfully at the flabbergasted figure greeting her.

--

_A/N: Now Muse has finally done it. She sneaked something passed me that I hadn't noticed but the majority of reviewers pointed out! Dawn and House having a bit of fun in the hospital! Well, I really like the idea … but am kinda low on ideas as of what exactly they could be up to. Any suggestions? Hand Muse a shovel – or part thereof – so she can get out of the grave she dug herself, please?_


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

The flabbergast-ness quickly vanished. Feet placed on his desk, House smirked at Dawn. "Nice."

Dawn bowed in an exaggerated way. "Why, thank you."

House pointed towards the small TV before him. "Now be quiet."

Shrugging her shoulders, Dawn locked the door again and had a look around the room. Picking up the oversized tennis ball – and giggling at the idea of it being compensation for something else – Dawn studied the various things on display. She checked on the other occupant of the room repeatedly, and was almost done reading the titles on the spines of his books when he finally switched the TV off.

"About time," Dawn grumbled good-naturedly, throwing the tennis ball at him.

Catching it without trouble, House raised his eyebrows. "If you were bored, then why didn't you interrupt me?"

"Nah." Dawn grinned, slouching comfortably in an empty chair. "Besides, keeping you wondering when I'd do something was quite fun."

Giving a chuckle, House watched her curiously. "Who taught you lock-picking?"

Dawn shrugged her shoulders in reply. Changing the topic, she said, "I'm bored. And Buffy told me to stay away from you."

"Ah, younger sibling syndrome." Leaning back in his chair, House threw the tennis ball back at Dawn. "Neat."

"Yep." Dawn nodded. "So, you've got anything planned? You know, making avoiding work more interesting?"

"Hide from Cuddy, avoid clinic duty, play with Marmine. The usual, you know."

Dawn's head bobbed up and down in anticipation. "Oh! Oh! I wanna play too! Any ideas?"

House thoughtfully looked her over. Dawn just rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, missing a chance to corrupt the innocent doesn't sound like you!"

The smirk returning slowly to his face, he tilted his head while his eyes never left hers. "Too late to do any damage?"

Dawn smiled sweetly, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Yep, wa-ay too late. Who do you think thought up the security system in Buffy's apartment, huh?"

Once again, the young woman in front of House rendered him speechless. Although, he recovered just as quickly as before. "Where've you been all my life?"

"Planning, scheming, escaping sisterly supervision. Why?" Dawn asked innocently.

Shaking his head in disbelieve, House got up and, grabbing his cane, walked over to Dawn. Holding out his hand, he helped her from the comfy chair. "Come on, kid. We've got _lots_ to do."

--

Buffy's luck was finally running out. She had so far managed to avoid Dr Wilson, even though she knew from both Allison and her mom that he was looking for her. That he wanted to talk to her in order to apologise.

Of course, just because he wanted to talk, didn't mean Buffy wanted to do the same. So she'd been especially careful while walking through the hospital, slipping in and out of rooms whenever she thought him near. In fact, Wilson was the fourth person, after House, Lisa and Marmine, who she'd learned to identify by their footsteps alone.

But now, even though she could hear his distinctive footsteps coming closer and closer, she had no chance of avoiding him as she was walking with her friends from the physiotherapy department. Well, she could slip into a room to avoid Wilson, but that would raise far too many questions she wasn't willing to answer. The only possibility to escape those questions would have been to hide in a bathroom. Only, like it usually was, there was none near when you needed it the most.

So she went for the next best thing, engaging in a rather intense conversation with Kamil and Julian.

"Miss Summers," Wilson said questioningly as he came closer.

Buffy pretended to be still in deep conversation with her friends, unwilling to stop. Unfortunately, Kamil hadn't gotten her telepathic message – but had a friend currently being treated by Dr Wilson. Stopping mid-sentence, his eyes opened wide. "Dr Wilson!" Turning to Buffy, he studied her concerned. "You aren't ill or anything, right?"

Sighing, Buffy shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Do you have a minute?" Wilson asked.

Buffy had two choices. Denying his request would bring up lots of unwanted question from her friends that she wanted to avoid. They didn't know about the incident in the Diagnostic Department's conference room and she'd rather keep it that way. Agreeing to it would mean she could tell the guys it was private and they'd most likely leave it at that. But it also meant for her to go and actually face Wilson.

Finding herself in the middle of everyone's attention, Buffy closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "Fine."

--

House slipped into a random room, reading the patient's information. "Boring." Coming out of the room again, he dragged Dawn along the corridor, repeating the process several times. Eventually, Dawn could hear his cry of triumph, followed by his request for her to come closer.

The patient was a young man in his late teens. And he was sulking. Smirking, House pointed towards him. "Dawn, meet Fred."

"Frank."

"Anyway, Freddie here is one of Wilson's patients and in serious need of some entertainment," House lectured, looking at Dawn. Turning back to Frank, he continued, "Dawn is doing a degree in prankology and asked for my advice. Nice as I am, I've agreed and have chosen you as my assistant." Looking around the room he asked, "Questions so far?"

Frank looked a bit confused but Dawn flashed him a big grin and squeezed his hand, immediately turning his frown into a smile.

"No? Good." House grinned before he explained his plan that involved some casual lying on Frank's side. With Dawn smiling at him throughout, he eagerly agreed to anything House said, going through House's instructions until he remembered every detail flawlessly. Well, technically, it wasn't very hard as House simply told him to pretend to having lost his voice. A little case of laryngitis could never hurt.

Dawn, while listening to House's instructions, looked around the room. Noticing a notepad on the bedside table, Dawn raised a questioning eyebrow at Frank who nodded. Opening it, she smiled at the sketches inside. They were really good.

Happy with Frank's progress, House grinned triumphantly at Dawn. "That, young padawan, was just a little warming-up exercise."

Grinning back, Dawn said, "Watch and learn." Handing the notepad back to Frank, she asked, "Could you sketch something if I'd describe it to you?"

"I guess."

"Sweet!" Dawn exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. Sitting down onto the bed – and probably making Frank's day with this simple gesture – Dawn gave him a description of _The Gentlemen_. Even though she hadn't seen them in person, she remembered the creepy pictures from Giles' books. Or the, in retrospective, just as creepy silence in Sunnydale when nobody had been able to talk.

Once she was satisfied by the picture of the pale, bald figures wearing dark suits and a spine-chilling smile while they were floating just above the ground in the notepad – each of them holding a fresh heart – Dawn clapped her hands again. "Wow! That's great! And creepy. But great!"

House looked at the picture in amusement, rolling his eyes at Dawn's enthusiasm. Getting up from the bed, Dawn kissed Frank's cheek. "And remember, don't do anything before Sunday, right? Also, don't show them the picture right away. Just tell them you thought you dreamt it or something."

Still blushing heavily, Frank nodded.

Giving him a final wave, Dawn dragged House out of the room. "So, whereto now?"

House motioned along the corridor. "Care to explain?"

"Nope. Where would be the fun in that?"

--

"I … I wanted to apologise," Wilson said, his hands buried in the pockets of his white coat. He had led them to an empty room before he'd started talking.

Gee, Buffy thought, I'd never figured that with all the nervous glancing and twitching going on. "Okay," she said brusquely.

He looked at her in bewilderment. "Okay? That's all?"

"What?" Buffy snapped. "Do you want me to praise you for the apology or something?"

"No!" Taking a deep breath, he continued. "No. It's just … I feel awful. I don't know what had gotten into me. I'm usually not like this, you know. I didn't know. Really didn't know that he … that he hit them."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Okay," she said again.

Wilson sighed. That wasn't going as he had hoped. Then again, he could also understand her. "Maybe, at some point in the future, you could tell me about Tara?" he asked hopefully.

Buffy just watched him for several minutes. It didn't take long for him to start squirming under her intensive gaze but he never looked away. In the end she gave him a tiny nod. "Maybe."

"Thank you." Wilson said relieved, giving her a lopsided smile. When Buffy didn't return the gesture, he walked towards the door, more than ready to go. "Thank you," he said again before leaving Buffy alone in the room.

--

Somewhere else in the hospital, Dawn was still trailing behind House, finding the cautious looks he received from several staff rather amusing.

"She's a demon," Dawn said casually, pointing at nurse Brenda as they passed her. "Well, part demon anyway."

House looked from her to Brenda and back. Then he started to grin. "Always thought so." Stopping Dawn, he moved so he would face her. His face dropping, he mock-whined, "I told Cuddles over and over again – but she just wouldn't believe me!"

Giggling, Dawn shoved passed him and – unseen by House – gave Brenda a small wave. Sometimes, telling the truth - if it happened to be unbelievable enough, that is - was the best way to keep a secret.

Less than a minute later, Dawn found herself shoved rather rudely into yet another room. She was about to protest when she heard her mother's annoyed voice, followed by a resigned sigh that reminded her a lot of Giles.

"House."

"Can I go and play with Marmine, Cuddles?" House asked, a mock-begging expression on his face. "Pretty please?"

Cuddy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. God, she really, _really_ wanted to say – no, _scream_ – yes! But she was still the Dean of Medicine and had to act appropriately. This, unfortunately, didn't include playing with her subordinates in the way House had in mind. Sighing, regretfully this time, she opened her eyes again and looked straight at him. "And bye, House."

Turning on the spot, she walked away as quickly as she could. She simply didn't trust herself enough to stay longer in case she would give in after all.

Just out of sight, Dawn was trying hard to keep her laughter muffled but gave up on it when House entered the room, a smug grin on his face. "Follow me."

--

House was looking through several bottles on the shelf, searching for the right one. "Ah!" Holding up a remarkably unremarkable brown bottle, he said, "This, young padawan, is indigo carmine. " Picking up another bottle, he added, "Or maybe we should use methylene blue?"

"Uh … okay."

Rolling his eyes, House continued, "Commonly referred to as blue pee among the uninitiated."

Dawn stared at him, wondering if he was serious or not. "This is blue pee?" she finally squeaked.

"Did I miss something and you got dumbed down along the way?" House shook his head sadly at her. "And I had so much hope for you."

Dawn squinted her eyes, poking his chest with her finger. "It's your fault, Mr I'm-crap-at-explaining! Now stop making fun of me and start with the explaining!"

Smirking, he replied, "I guess there's still hope. This isn't blue pee but causes it. Actually, it's more of a side-effect to its actual, but very boring, use."

"Sweet!"

"Nope," House said smugly.

"Huh?"

Grinning evilly, he explained, "I happen to know that it tastes quite bitter, not sweet."

"Ack!" Dawn slapped House's arm. Hard. "No making fun of me, remember? Or a bit of an itch will be the least of your problems!"

House waggled his eyebrows. "Any chance you'll tell me how you did it?"

"Right before I kill you." Dawn said easily. "Now, how do we get Marmine to take this stuff without noticing?" Pondering the general idea of blue pee for a while, she added mischievously, "Oh! And can I keep some? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

House looked at her sceptically. "You don't tell me how you made me itch all over and want some of this in return?"

"Yep," Dawn said, her head bobbing up and down in excitement. "You see, I've got this new brownie recipe to test out. I promised my friends, you know."

Eyes lighting up in mischief, he said, "If you put it this way … I might give you some in return for the recipe."

"Deal!"

Smirking, House pocketed the little bottle for now and left the room, leaving Dawn no choice but to follow him.

--

Buffy looked at her sister in suspicion. She was way too cheerful – and that wasn't necessarily a good thing. "What have you done?"

"Nothing," Dawn said with eyes wide open, her voice dripping with innocence.

"Then why don't I believe you?"

"Older sibling syndrome," Dawn said seriously, reusing the comment House had made the previous day. "I think there's a current outbreak or something."

Buffy huffed when Dawn didn't lose her façade of innocence even after being at the receiving end of Buffy's glare for several minutes. "Fine."

"Told you so," Dawn said, punching the air in triumph.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy couldn't help herself but point out, "You do know that the punch was a bit much, right?"

"Oops?"

Shaking her head, knowing her sister wouldn't tell her anything, she asked, "So, what are your plans for today?"

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "Giles asked me to check on your replacements, see how they're getting on."

Buffy frowned. "Faith and I just sent him a report on Eve and Sondra."

"You know how he is, better check everything a million times. Anyway, he also mumbled something about me being closer to their age or something – which is ridiculous, considering you're only a few years older than me. Then again, it's not like I've got anything else to do. And he paid my flights in return." Of course, she somehow forgot to mention that their meeting wasn't until later this afternoon. Or that she had other plans for the morning she didn't want her sister to know about.

--

Buffy walked into the open clinic and straight over to Brenda who was manning the nurses' desk. "Which one is House in?" she asked, pointing at the examination rooms behind her.

"Two. Alone, of course. I was going to see if you two had another session before sending a patient in."

"Yep, physiotherapy session it is," Buffy said, holding up her bag.

Brenda shook her head in disbelieve. "Never thought I'd see him having one of those. Never mind continue with them over a longer period of time."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "We've simply come to an understanding."

Snorting, Brenda motioned to the room. "Yeah, I guess nobody else had let him watch TV during the sessions before."

"Whatever makes him cooperate," Buffy said with a grin. "Give me an hour, okay?"

Brenda nodded before watching the Slayer enter examination room two. She had feared her at first, despite the rumours of her going only after the bad demons, but had soon come to understand that this was exactly Buffy's philosophy. Add to that her ability to cope with her own nemesis – House – and Brenda had quickly learned to like Buffy. She had even gone as far and asked her if House was a demon – which, surprisingly, he wasn't.

--

Raising her eyebrows, Buffy put her bag down and walked over to House. He was sitting on the little stool thingy, watching General Hospital. Stepping in his line of view, she asked, "Haven't you forgotten something?"

Rolling passed her, so he could continue watching his transportable TV, he shook his head. "Nope. Now be quiet."

"As long as you lose your jeans and hop onto the examination table."

House shook his head and pointed towards the door. At the very same moment, someone knocked and entered without waiting for a reply. Grinning smugly, House continued to watch his show.

Buffy, however, just stared open-mouthed at the new arrival. "What are _you_ doing here?"


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

Dawn, wearing a grin that matched House's, waved at her sister. "Hi!"

"What's going on?" Buffy asked suspiciously. "What are you two up to? And didn't I tell you to stay away from House?"

"Younger sibling syndrome," House and Dawn said in unison.

Rubbing his hands together in glee, House switched the portable TV off. "I'm TiVo-ing it anyway." Patting the examination table, he said. "Hop up. I even had evil nurse Brenda change the sheets for the occasion."

"Nu-huh. That's your place, not mine. Physiotherapy, remember?" Buffy said with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

House shook his head and pulled a machine from the corner of the room, moving it next to the bed. "Welcome to round two of _Parasite Watch_."

Buffy frowned as she recognised the ultrasound machine House had used last time. "Been there, done that, got the picture."

House snorted. "Four weeks ago. Time for another check-up."

Buffy still didn't move but glared alternately at House and Dawn.

"What?" House raised his eyebrows. "I happen to know that you haven't gone and gotten yourself another doctor. So, as a _concerned_ member of the medical profession-"

Buffy snorted at his accentuation of the word concerned, causing House to smirk and bow slightly before he continued, "- it is my duty to monitor the progress of your spawn."

Dawn coughed, looking innocently at her sister. "It's either this or I'll tell mom and she'll drag you to someone else. Someone you don't know. Who might be evil. Or, worse, uber-friendly and happy!"

"Dawn."

Rolling her eyes, Dawn dropped her mask and said seriously, "Please? I want to see the little one before I have to go back."

Looking at House, who was giving her a mock-pleading look, she sighed. "Fine," she grumbled. It wasn't like she had a choice. Dawn was right after all, if Lisa found out that she hadn't been to a doctor for a month, she'd make sure that Buffy would get checked-out. So, she figured, better go with the devil you know. "Just an ultrasound, right? Nothing more … invasive, right?" Buffy asked with a blush while pointing south of her belly.

"Eww!" House and Dawn said at the same time, pulling a face to match. "Ultrasound, blood pressure, weight and some blood. If everything's within the norm and you don't have any problems, then there's no need for anything else." Apart from a little maternity test, of course.

"Good! Good," Buffy said, her face still bright red. Then she frowned again. "Blood? As in poking me with evil needles?"

House waggled his eyebrows. "Don't worry. I've trained the needles in evilness myself. I'm only using the best of the best. Or the evilest of the evilest, in this case."

Giggling, Dawn took Buffy's hand in hers. "Don't worry, I'll just beat him up if he misbehaves. He can't even run away with that bum leg, so it would be a piece of cake."

"Hey!" House protested. "I thought we were buddies!"

Dawn shrugged and smiled sweetly at him.

She didn't let go of Buffy's hand throughout the whole examination. Both her and her sister stared at the small screen in fascination, going as far as shedding a little happy tear when the small foetus moved – even if it was only to show them his or her backside as House was quick to point out. Satisfied with both the size of the foetus and his heartbeat, House threw Dawn a paper towel to clean her sisters tummy off the ultrasound gel while he got the blood sample he needed.

Despite everything, Buffy had to admit that he was good at it – quick and hitting the vein at the first try when, in her experience, most people had trouble to hit any of her veins, not to mention in their first try. Once her clothes were back in order, Buffy looked at her sister and House. "So, since when are you two bestest buddies?"

"Yesterday," Dawn said absently, smiling at the ultrasound picture in her hand. Belatedly realising she had been tricked she blushed. "Oops?"

Buffy nodded in agreement. "Uh huh."

House, having conveniently _lost_ one of the blood vials somewhere in his pockets, watched the two sisters argue in amusement.

"What did you do?" Buffy asked with a sigh. "And don't tell me _nothing_, because we both know that'd be a lie."

Dawn played with the hem of her shirt. "Uh. You might wanna avoid any coke coming from Marmine? Oh. And coffee too."

"Coffee?" House asked in surprise.

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "I figured it'd be a waste of a perfectly fine break-in into his office to only taint his supply of coke."

"Nice!" House smirked, nodding his head in approval.

"Hello-o!" Buffy tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. "I'm still here and waiting for an explanation!"

"Well," Dawn drawled out. "It was like this."

Listening to her sister's explanation, Buffy could only shake her head in disbelief. If anything, it only proved her point that a meeting between House and her sister would end badly. Very badly. Well, at least if her pee started to turn blue, she knew whom to turn to. Still shaking her head at her sister, she stopped short when she saw an expression of concentration cross her sister's face. "What now?"

"Nothing?" Dawn tried but Buffy only shook her head. Sighing, Dawn admitted, "Uh, remember that scary fairy tale about everyone losing their voice?"

"Dawn," Buffy said warningly.

"It's House's fault, really!" Dawn defended herself. "He told this cute patient of Wilson's how to pretend that he has lost his voice as a side-effect of his treatment. I mean, the poor guy was really bored and Wilson deserved the prank. I wasn't going to do anything, but then I saw his notepad with all those drawings. He looked so unhappy that I thought I might cheer him up by asking him to draw something for me. That's all."

Buffy raised her eyebrows expectantly.

Shuffling her feet, Dawn finished sheepishly, "I might have given him a description of some creepy gentleman."

Groaning, Buffy shook her head. "Dawn. You know I'll have to tell Giles about this."

"Wha-" Dawn exclaimed, eyes bulging out in shock. "You can't do that! He'll try to give me one of his super-boring and super-long lectures about appropriate behaviour and stuff! I'll probably get extra weird translations too!"

"Yep."

"That's … that's just mean, you know!"

Buffy grinned. "I know."

Pouting, Dawn crossed her arms in front of her chest. "He'll probably steal one of my brownies too."

In the background, House smirked. This was better entertainment than he had in quite a while. He almost laughed out loud at Dawn's last brownie-comment, knowing that this Giles would experience some blue pee in the near future. Still grinning, he watched the two bickering sisters leave the examination room.

Not only did he have one of the most entertaining hours in the clinic for a while, he also got around his physiotherapy session.

Or so he thought.

Because, only a minute after the two had left, the door opened again and a middle-aged man entered. Holding the file he was carrying in his hand out to House, he said, "The nurse sent me in. And I'm supposed to tell you that your physiotherapy session has been moved to tomorrow."

House couldn't help but grin – tomorrow was Saturday and he wondered if Buffy really came to hunt him down for the physiotherapy session. Then again, he wouldn't be too surprised. The Summers' sisters were sure as close to a match to him as he had seen in a long time.

--

Dawn hugged Buffy and Lisa tightly, unwilling to let them go any time soon. Albeit reluctantly, Lisa eventually broke the contact between them. "You need to go if you don't want to miss your plane."

"Maybe I want to." Dawn said rather petulantly.

Buffy rubbed her sister's arm. "I'll miss you too but you need to finish your studies."

"I could do it here!"

"No." Buffy shook her head firmly. "We both know you're at the best school already. And I happen to know that you love it there."

Dawn had to admit that Buffy was right. "But what about the baby? I'm going to miss everything!"

Lisa hugged Dawn to her side. "I'll make sure to take lots and lots of photos."

"Of fat and bloated Buffy too?" Dawn asked mischievously, causing Lisa to laugh out loud – and Buffy to protest. "Hey!"

"Of everything," Lisa assured her, patting Buffy's head slightly.

Dawn chuckled then frowned as her eyes landed on her sister. "Uh oh, Buffy, tears!"

"What! Where?" Buffy looked frantically at her clothes. "I've not gotten fatter overnight again and ripped my clothes open, have I?"

Flabbergasted at Buffy's unexpected reply, Dawn exchanged a look with Lisa before the two of them broke out laughing. In fact, they laughed so hard that they had to keep each other from falling over.

"Hey! Stop with the laughing at the pregnant woman!" Buffy pouted, crossing her arms in front of her. She really didn't know what the other two were laughing at.

"Tears!" Dawn finally managed to wheeze. "I meant you were crying, not have a tear in your clothes!"

"Fine." Buffy grumbled. "Just laugh at the one with the crazy hormones."

"Uh oh," Dawn stage-whispered, "mood-swings too!"

Buffy huffed, glaring at her sister. "You better watch out before my mood-swings throw you towards your exit!"

Lisa tried, although only partially successful, to hide her smile. "Hush, both of you."

The sisters looked first at their mother, than at each other and shrugged their shoulders in unison. Hugging once again, Dawn asked, "You really don't want Giles and the others to know?"

Buffy shook her head. "No. I'm not ready yet. But you can always talk to mom and Allison and Faith, okay?"

Leaning back but still keeping her arms around her sister, Dawn frowned. "I still don't get why Faith and not anyone else."

"When was the last time Faith tried to command you around? Tried to tell you what's best for you?"

Dawn sighed and nodded, finally understanding. An understanding, she suddenly realised, that was only possible in its completeness now that she had seen Buffy interact with their mom, Allison, House and the other people from the hospital – including evil Marmine. They treated her as, well, as just Buffy Summers – no title attached. "But you have to tell them eventually, you know."

"I will," Buffy promised. Kissing her sister's forehead, Buffy gently pushed her towards the exit. "Now go. Be safe."

Dawn nodded and, after hugging her newfound mom for a final time, made her way to her plane.

"So," Lisa said after they had been staring for a while at the spot where they had lost sight of Dawn, "Ice cream?"

Blinking a tear away, Buffy nodded.

--

House looked at the closed envelope lying on his desk. The envelope that had been waiting for him for the past three days. He just hadn't had the time needed to appreciate and ponder the results inside, so he had surprised even himself by opting to keep it closed for a little while longer.

But now, with the latest case solved – and his final team of fellows chosen to his liking – House had closed the blinds to his office, locked the doors and put his stereo on to drown out any noises coming from the outside.

He leaned back into his chair and put his feet up his desk. Playing with the envelope, House contemplated the possible significance of it. And if it was right to open it in the first place.

Then he snorted. Since when did he bother about his actions being right or wrong? Shaking his head, he ripped the envelope open.

Unfolding the sheet of paper inside, House deliberately took the time to read every single line instead of going right down to the result.

When he finally read the conclusion, a slow smile started to spread across his lips.

"Cuddy, Cuddy, Cuddy."

--

At the exact same moment, Cuddy was praying to the porcelain god.

Once her stomach was empty of anything entering it during the past twelve hours or so, she sat back, resting her head against the cool bathroom tiles. Thankfully she had been in her office and could use her own private bathroom rather than having to use one of the hospital ones.

She knew she should have passed on the vegan eggplant-parmesan dish she had ordered. But, wanting to get the most out of the new potential donor, she had followed his suggestion and ordered it instead of her usual choice. True, it had been delicious, but now she had to pay the price for eating it.

Sighing, she finally got up and rinsed her mouth, putting on an extra layer of make-up to cover-up her pale face. At least the queasy feeling in her stomach had almost vanished now. It wouldn't do her any good to run out in the middle of the hospital board meeting that started in less than half an hour.

Feeling marginally better, she stepped out of her bathroom and went back to her desk. There was still enough time to go through her report for a final time and check for new emails. In fact, some of the colour returned to her face as soon as she opened her email account. She had a new email from Dawn awaiting her attention and, going by the previous ones, it would be more than enough to distract her from her mild case of food poisoning.

Twenty minutes later Lisa headed towards her meeting with a small smile playing along her lips. Just as she had predicted, Dawn's email had been just what she had needed. She had almost reached her final destination when an all too well known cane blocked her path.

"House. What do you want now?"

"What, no big _thank you_ for choosing my team?" House said in mock-hurt.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "My head still hurts from trying to figure out how to pay three instead of two additional fellows," she deadpanned.

Looking at her in shock, his hands pressed over his heart, House said, "But you told me to hire _Thirteen_ as well!"

"You manipulated me into doing so!" Cuddy hissed at him.

"We seem a bit tense today." House waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Looks like someone needs to get laid!"

"House!"

"Are we getting prude with age?" House mocked her. "Maybe you should start looking for a grandchild, then?"

Cuddy stared at him in utter disbelief. He didn't just say this, did he?

By the time she had recovered, House was gone.

--

_A/N: Congrats to those who guessed it was Dawn at the door. Sometimes the most obvious answer is the right one. LOL.  
_

_I've been pondering the question if House should be initiated to the supernatural world. I'm leaning towards no and Muse hasn't said anything yet, so I wondered what you think? Any insights that might be helpful? Thanks!_


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

It had been almost two weeks and House hadn't made any further comment on grandchildren, _or_ children, for that matter.

Lisa closed her eyes. Maybe she had just put more into his comment than there actually had been. At least, that's what she hoped. Then again, she had been busy with other things.

First, she had run into Dr Marmine as he was leaving one of the hospital bathrooms – giggles following him all the way out. Only manly giggles, of course. It hadn't taken long for the hospital grapevine to start running either. Apparently, Dr Marmine had started to pee blue. In a pretty busy bathroom. Naturally, Cuddy had gone looking for House and, just like she had expected, his words had been claiming innocence while his eyes had been screaming _'Yes! It was me!"_ The problem was, she had found it rather hilarious herself and thought that Marmine had deserved the little prank. Worse, House had known that too and had left with a knowing grin.

Then one of Wilson's patients had shown an unexpected side effect of his treatment. She wouldn't have worried that much if the young man hadn't started to draw very weird looking men, indicating they had _stolen_ his voice! Only a few months ago she would have sent a psychiatrist to see the patient. But now, with Buffy and inevitably the supernatural back in her life, she had gone to her daughter first.

Buffy had taken one look at the picture and whistled in appreciation. Then her daughter had told her about _The Gentlemen_ – and the prank House had initiated. It still made Lisa smile when she remembered her shock at Buffy's revelation of sweet Dawn planting the little titbit about the demons. Lisa had called Dawn, giving her a little lecture about enabling House in his search for mischief. But, instead of being sorry, Dawn had started to ask her about her own relationship with House. Had actually asked her if she found him good-looking. And had even gone as far as asking her if they'd ever had a roll in the hay! In the end, Dawn had been giggling away while Lisa had found herself spluttering – and hanging up the phone.

A couple of hours later she had found an email from Dawn in her inbox. It had contained a picture of an adorable seven-year old Buffy – one she hadn't seen before – and another one of a remorseful looking Dawn. Lisa hadn't known if she should laugh or cry and, when the phone had rung and Dawn had asked if it had worked, Lisa had gone with the laughing. And another little lecture for Dawn.

As if all of this wasn't enough, she was now spending any free second on the last minute preparations of their 5k charity run. The very event House had told Marmine about in the cafeteria two months earlier. Of course, House wasn't going to take part – something she could only be grateful for.

Sighing, Lisa closed the participant file for the run and went to meet up with Buffy.

--

Buffy was whistling as she made her way to coma guy's room. She was feeling good, her baby had started with a more serious exercise regime - and Buffy enjoyed every moment of it. Even if it meant only a few hours of sleep because her baby's preferred exercise time happened to be at night. But as she still benefited from the slayer's diminished need for sleep, she could cope with it just fine.

Last night she had talked to Dawn and told her about the success of their pranks. Dawn had whooped in joy – even if she had known about one of them already - and asked if she had any pictures to go with it. Naturally, that had led Buffy to warn Dawn of ever doing anything like that in their hospital again. And, Buffy really blamed it on her pregnancy brain, she had conveniently forgotten to mention that Lisa knew about it too and was going to have a little chat with Dawn about encouraging House in his ways. Then again, Dawn was just as good at conveniently forgetting to mention something – she had never mentioned her little chat with their mother earlier in the week.

But now she had a game to play herself. Entering the room, she went straight to House who was watching his soap again and pulled tight, knee-length running shorts out of her bag.

"There you go," she said cheerfully.

House gave the flimsy thing one look before going back to watching his portable TV.

"Come on," Buffy said encouragingly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Don't be shy! Give it a try!"

House ignored her, even though he really wanted to know what Buffy was going on about.

Buffy stepped into his line of vision, effectively obscuring his view of the TV. Holding up the very red, very shiny running shorts, she stuck out her bottom lip – and going as far as squeezing a tear out. "Don't you like red?"

"No. Now let me watch my show," House grumbled.

Going back to her bag, Buffy rummaged around before stopping in front of House again. "How about yellow? I also have green, purple and light blue. And grey or black for the boring people."

"Are you on _drugs_?" House looked at her bewildered. Abandoning the show for now, knowing he could always watch the TiVo-ed episode at home, House scanned Buffy for any further signs of drug use. Or madness. Or both.

Buffy grinned and shook her head. "Nope. Anyway, you need to make with the deciding so I can get a matching outfit."

"What?"

The pout returned. "Fine. No matching outfits for us." House sighed in relief – too soon as it turned out. "We'll match you up with Cuddy, then."

"What!?"

House and Buffy turned to the door and watched a spluttering Lisa Cuddy look at Buffy as if she'd suddenly grown another head. She had followed Buffy's instructions to meet her at a hospital room a few minutes earlier but, upon reaching it, had stayed in the doorway and silently laughed at the dialogue between House and her daughter. Despite this had the last comment caught her completely unaware. Hence the spluttering.

Taking a deep breath, she pressed her lips together, squared her shoulders and entered the room completely.

Mischief making itself shown in House's eyes he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Come on, Cuddles. We'd be a perfect match!"

Lisa huffed and squinted her eyes at both of them.

Buffy deliberately ignored her mom's stare and clapped her hands in excitement. Well, she was exaggerating a bit but it was just too much fun to watch those two. "Great! Let's make it grey shorts and light-pink tight tops! You'll look great! Both of you!"

Two pairs of eyes stared her. "I'm not running," Lisa and House said in unison.

And here came the pout again. "But … but you said you wanted to!"

"Bum leg," House said smugly, pointing at the aforementioned appendage.

"Organiser," Lisa was quick to add. "Sorry." Besides, she had never mentioned her intention of taking part.

"Fine." Buffy crossed her arms in front of her chest and started to tap her foot. "Let the pregnant woman run all by herself."

"You're not running!" Cuddy said almost immediately. She wasn't going to let anything happen to her daughter. Even though, deep down, she knew that it was quite safe for Buffy to take part as long as she didn't overexert herself. And, giving her being the Slayer, she could probably win easily without causing any problems for her pregnancy. But that all didn't count as, foremost, Buffy was her daughter. Slayer or not.

"Uh huh." Buffy nodded. "I am."

"You're not on the list," Cuddy replied stubbornly. After all, she had just had a look at it before she came here.

"You probably haven't gotten the updated version yet," Buffy said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Meanwhile, House was sitting back with a big grin on his face. Watching those two was priceless – especially now that he knew them to be mother and daughter. Still, he wasn't ready to let them know that he was aware of that little fact. For now he'd simply watch – and add the occasional ambiguous comment for fun.

"You are pregnant," Lisa argued.

"No!" Buffy opened her eyes wide in mock-shock. "That'd explain the growing bump! And I was afraid I had a tumour or something!"

House chuckled quietly, giving Buffy thumbs up behind Cuddy's back. She winked at him in return.

"Buffy."

"I'm officially sponsored by the IWC," Buffy said casually, pretending to check her fingernails for flaws.

Lisa's head snapped up a bit too quickly. "How much?"

Buffy just smiled sweetly, knowing her mom would let her take part – even if she was sure to have to endure a few more _'Be careful'_ lessons. She had to make sure to thank Dawn for suggesting the IWC as her sponsor. Convincing Giles had been easy after that.

"IWC?" House asked with interest. "What does it stand for?"

"Immense Wad of Cash?" Buffy offered with a grin. "Naw. Boring stuff, really. My sister is working for them on a part-time basis." Rubbing her hands together in glee, she added, "Now that you've decided to chicken out of the race, you will do some sponsoring too!"

"Nope." House said, returning her challenging look.

"So you're taking part after all!"

"Nope."

"Well," Buffy drawled out. "Make with the deciding already! Participant or sponsor?" The tapping foot was back. "I'm waiting, I don't have all day!"

"Neither," House replied with a grin. "I'll indulge in wine, food and woman in my very own palace of pleasures."

Lisa snorted. "You surely mean booze, greasy stuff and prostitutes!"

House shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "Same difference."

Buffy rolled her eyes at the two of them. Dawn had been right, there was definitely some sparkage going on. And while she wasn't delusional enough to expect them to have your standard happily-ever-after relationship, Buffy knew she'd love to watch them drive each other nuts. In a good way, of course. Was there enough sparkage to hold forever? This was something only time would be able to tell.

"Hm," Buffy tapped her chin with her forefinger. "Julian. You'll sponsor Julian from my course. He loves booze and greasy stuff too. Doesn't need prostitutes, though." Buffy's eyes sparkled with naughtiness. "Maybe he can teach you a thing or two?"

Lisa laughed. The look on House's face was too funny and laughing out loud was the only appropriate answer to it.

Buffy nodded smugly. "See," she told House. "Cuddy thinks so too." Turning to her mother, she continued. "And you can sponsor Sparky."

The laughing stopped immediately and was replaced with a confused expression. "Huh?"

"Sparky," Buffy said. "House's new fellow?"

Now it was House who chuckled. Sparky? He had to remember that one.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy elaborated, "Kutner? There are already several betting pools on when he's setting the next patient, or himself, on fire. Or electrocutes someone."

"I'm sure Sparky would love to be sponsored by the Dean of Medicine herself," House said still chuckling. Oh the fun he could have with this! All the rumours that would needed to be started.

Before Lisa could reply to that, an alarm went off in the room. Buffy looked at her watch and scrunched up her nose. "Urgh. Meeting with Marmine. I better head off." Seeing the raised eyebrows directed her, she shrugged her shoulders. "It's a general thing. Teachers and students of the course, catching up on our progress and such."

Quickly gathering her stuff, Buffy shouldered her bag and gave House and her mom a final wave. "Behave!" she said with a suggestive grin.

With Buffy gone, House and Lisa watched each other for a moment before Lisa had the obligatory look at her own watch. "Right. I'm off too."

"Motherly duties, I assume."

Lisa turned around fast enough to make her head spin. Luckily, the dizziness only lasted for a second. "What?!"

House looked at her in pure innocence. "Managing the hospital, of course. It's your kid, isn't it?"

Lisa just huffed and left the room, leaving a smirking House behind. There it was again, a comment about her kid. Unfortunately, with House being House she couldn't be sure who he had referred to – the hospital like he had claimed or Buffy. Groaning, Lisa stopped in the middle of the corridor. Turning around, she quickly walked back and looked into coma guy's room. Sure enough, House was still in the same position she had left him in. Even his annoying grin was still in place.

"Clinic duty in five minutes. Three hours." Without waiting for a reply, she vanished as quickly as she had entered only moments earlier.

House's smirk remained in place. He would comply with her order and do his three hours of clinic duty. He'd even treat patients and go as far as to only insult those who wouldn't recognise an insult if it bit them in the ass.

Just to throw her off, of course.

--

Buffy met up with Julian, Kamil and Keelan in front of the conference room next to Marmine's office. Pointing at Julian, she said cheerfully, "I've found you a sponsor."

"Really? Who?" Julian asked with interest.

"House."

The guys stared at her. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope." Buffy shook her head, grinning mischievously. "You're a perfect match. You like booze and greasy food. House likes prostitutes too but I've told him you would give him tips on eliminating the need for them."

"Are you trying to kill me?" Julian squeaked, looking at her in shock.

"Hm." Buffy looked like she was pondering his question. "Naw," she finally said. "It'd be too much work to break in another student." She patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You're safe."

"Besides," Kamil pointed out, "House is probably not doing it anyway."

"Oh he will," Buffy said, a dangerous glint entering her eyes. "I'll make sure he does."

"But-"

The door to the conference room opened, stopping any further reply.

"Coffee?" One of their supervisors asked while pointing to a Thermos on a sideboard. "Feel free to take a cup." Everyone but Buffy accepted the offer gratefully.

"Caffeine-free?" she asked, pointing towards her slightly swollen belly.

"No, sorry."

Buffy shrugged her shoulder and took a bottle of water from the sideboard. "Don't worry. I'll just have some water."

Their supervisor smiled apologetically before telling them to take a seat as Dr Marmine entered the room. Taking a quick look around the room, he said, "I take it you've all registered for the charity run?"

Everyone nodded. "Sponsored?"

Julian winced but, after receiving a kick from Buffy under the table, he nodded like everyone else. "Good," Marmine said. "Now let's start with the real work."

--

The charity run was a full success. Not only because it brought attention and money to the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital but also for the fact of half the physiotherapy department were leaving the bathrooms with amidst giggles and chuckles.

It didn't take long for the rumour mill to go crazy. Apparently there was another outbreak of the blue-pee disease. Only this time it wasn't just one person but a group of people. Which was always good for a lot more attention. It took a lot of blushing – and some boasting from the younger guys – until it was clear what everyone had in common.

Unfortunately, it also made another person stand out. Buffy. As she had been there but showed no symptoms whatsoever. However, one of the supervisors remembered her declining the coffee on ground of her pregnancy and, therefore, identified the source of the outbreak.

Naturally, Marmine was told about it right after the run. Already mad at coming in only seconds before a pregnant Buffy Summers, he went straight on to accuse her of tainting his personal coffee supply.

Buffy raised her eyebrows but kept a straight face otherwise. "I had nothing to do with it."

Heather, being here to support her fiancé, took Marmine's hand in hers. "You're pregnant?"

Buffy nodded, barely keeping herself from staring open-mouthed at the woman in front of her. It didn't take long to figure out who she was. The way she looked at Marmine, touched him and leaned into him, spoke of a comfortable intimacy. Then there was the undeniable resemblance to Mark. Buffy was standing in front of Mark's sister.

Heather, unaware of the Buffy's thought processes, turned back to Marmine, "Look, a lot of women try to reduce or avoid caffeine intake during their pregnancy. There's nothing suspicious about her not wanting any coffee."

House watched the scene with interest. He had missed the first part as he had been too far away to understand what they were saying, but Marmine's and Buffy's body language told him everything he needed to know. As he came closer, he saw that Buffy was concentrating more on Marmine's fiancée than the conversation surrounding her. Despite it being about her.

House raised an eyebrow as he realised Marmine's fiancée was actually defending Buffy. Now that was interesting. He was pretty sure she didn't know who Buffy was while, in return, Buffy did know who Marmine's fiancée was. He was tempted, really tempted, to just sit back and watch where this was going. Then again, Buffy was his. Not in a kinky kind of way but more in toy worthy to play with kind of way.

"Ah! That's where I lost it!" House exclaimed next to Heather, slapping his forehead. "I've been looking for my special supply of coffee for weeks now!"

"The coffee came directly from my office!" Marmine exclaimed, not exactly happy at being at the centre of such a prank. Especially not with Heather around to witness it.

House looked at his feet, going as far as shuffling them around in embarrassment – mock-embarrassment, really, while he tried hard to not laugh out loud – and admitted sheepishly. "I might have been a bit tipsy when I misplaced it. Probably got lost on the way to my office and yours wasn't locked. Must have put the coffee down before realising I was in the wrong office." House finally looked up, giving Marmine an impressive remorseful look. "I'm sorry."

Heather stroked her fiancé's arm reassuringly. "See, it's all a simply mistake. It wasn't on purpose." Turning to House, she said slightly admonishingly, "And you shouldn't run around the hospital while being drunk."

"Yes ma'am."

"What would you want with the tainted coffee anyway?" Heather asked, confusion written over her face.

House gave her his most charming smile. "Sorry, that's classified." Leaning closer, he stage-whispered, "My fellows might be trying to listen into this conversation."

Heather raised her eyebrows and, taking a step back, scrutinised him from top to bottom. "You're Dr House."

Looking at her in mock-shock, he even went as far as covering his heart by his hands. "It's my hair, isn't it?" He brushed a non-existing strand of hair out of his face. "My hair and distinguished good looks gave me away, right?"

Chuckling, Heater nodded. "Of course. And it was only marginally helped along by your cane and the very idea of having tainted coffee sitting about."

House bowed slightly. "I'll take it as a compliment." Noticing Buffy still staring at Heather, he mentally rolled his eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to have a little chat with my physiotherapist." Nodding curtly to Marmine, House took Buffy by the arm and dragged her with him.

They hadn't gone far when House literally run into Chase. "Wombat! Is Cameron about?"

"Why?" Chase asked suspiciously while looking worriedly at Buffy. Then he nodded in confirmation of House's question.

"Good." Motioning towards Buffy, House grumbled. "Had a little run-in with Marmine and his chick. Looks like a super-sized ice cream emergency or something. Gotta go and annoy Cuddy."

Without waiting for a reply, House walked off, leaving Buffy and Chase staring after him. Gently rubbing the base of her back, Chase asked, "You okay?"

Buffy sighed deeply but nodded. "Yeah." Smiling sheepishly, she added, "Ice cream can't hurt, though."

Chuckling, Chase took her to Allison.

--

_A/N: Bah. I give up. Muse does what she wants anyway. Okay, I admit I like what she came up with but she really could have told me beforehand! Anyway, thanks to all your suggestions about House and the supernatural. I've got a fairly good idea how I'm going to handle it now! So thanks again!_


	42. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

Buffy smiled while she walked to the hospital, enjoying the late October sun. Last week had been a good one and she hoped this one wouldn't be any different.

Of course, even last week had started rocky. Meeting Mark's sister at the charity run had been a shock. Although realising that she was engaged to Dr Marmine had been an even bigger shock. Luckily she'd been at her mom's House that night when the implications of it had finally hit home – and doubt had started to creep up.

Had she been only offered the position in the program because of her engagement with Mark? Had Marmine, who had been friendly and helpful at her job interview, offered her the place in the program because of her relations and not her abilities? It would certainly explain his change of attitude towards her almost as soon as she had arrived.

Lisa had patiently listened to Buffy's concerns before she had pointed out that it hadn't been solely Marmine's decision to take her on – although she hadn't denied Marmine's motives. She had been thinking along the same lines after all. And, upon Buffy's question, Lisa had also admitted that House knew about the whole situation. In fact, Cuddy assumed he had figured it out a few weeks ago. Like she had. But, unlike House who probably kept it to himself for more sinister reasons, she simply hadn't known how to tell her.

Buffy had been a bit miffed by that at first, but, another tub of cookie-dough ice cream later, she had admitted that she could see her mother's point. After all, they had only met a few months earlier and were still in the getting to know each other phase. There would be more difficult situation ahead of them – and both of them would, albeit unwanted, hurt the other to some degree.

They had celebrated their first fight - if you could call it that to begin with - with another tub of ice cream. Each. This time it had been triple chocolate flavour. Unfortunately that last portion had proven too much for Lisa and she ended up being sick early the next morning. Buffy, who'd been sleeping in the guest room, had held her mother's hair as she got rid of all the ice cream.

After that rocky stretch the remaining weekend had gone smoothly. As had the following week. Even House had refrained from commenting on the situation. As usual, he had complained throughout their physiotherapy sessions about missing parts of General Hospital and Buffy had pointed out that he was TiVo-ing it anyway. Then he had complained about the exercises she had him do and Buffy had pointed out he'd been unable to do most of them only a couple of month ago. All in all, their sessions had been fairly normal.

At the end of the week she had signed the contract to buy the house she had already fallen in love with. It would be another month until she could move in, but the first step had been done. Then, at the weekend, she had spent more time with her two replacement slayers. She had helped Sondra and Eve with their sparring, had supervised their weapons training and taught them one or two more tricks. The girls had been thrilled to hear that they could move from their temporary living arrangements into Buffy's current apartment just after Thanksgiving.

But they had also told her about some rumours in the demon world. So, on Saturday night, they had all gotten ready for patrolling, numerous weapons hidden between them. Even though Buffy hadn't intended to fight, she had been just as ready and armed as the girls. They had gone straight for one of the main demon bars in the area.

Buffy smiled at the memory. Stopping for a moment in the sun, she watched a mother patiently leading her toddler along. The little boy stopped ever so often, unceremoniously plopping onto the path to look at a colourful fallen leaf or butterfly or bug while his mom gave him all the time he wanted to discover the world around him. The smile on Buffy's face grew even further as she placed her hand on her belly. In a few months time, she'd hold her own baby in her arms. She couldn't wait to finally meet the little one growing inside her.

Sighing, she continued on her way to work – and let her thoughts drift back to the demon bar.

She had entered the bar, Eve and Sondra flanking her yet standing slightly behind her. As one, they had walked up to the bar and, while the girls turned to watch the room, Buffy had seemingly effortlessly jumped up onto it. The room had quietened within seconds. She had walked up and down the bar, making a point of looking every single demon present into the eyes – while twirling the Scythe in her hand.

Then she had mentioned the rumours - about her loosing her touch, about her inability or unwillingness to fight. Some of the demons had snorted and a couple of fledglings had gone as far as laughing her straight in the face and offering to show her some real action. Buffy hadn't blinked an eye as she took a stake from the small of her back and threw at one of the fledglings. His friend hadn't even finished transforming into his game-face before he too had found himself with a stake in his heart.

Calmly collecting her stakes, Buffy had put them back were she took them from and asked if there were any more questions. Leaning casually against the bar, she had given the room another stare – and asked them what they would think would happen if anything happened to her or any of her friends. Asked how many Slayers they thought their little place could deal with. Not waiting for a reply, she and the girls had left the bar again.

And last night she had gotten a call from Eve, telling her about the little chat she and Sondra had on the cemetery. They had been approached by a messenger from the demon population. He had told them that there was a general warning out. Attack the Chosen One or her family and you're an outcast – or, in simplified terms, pretty much dead. After all, there were enough other slayers around to kill to make yourself a name.

Apparently someone had done a bit of thinking – and come to the right conclusions. There had been enough demons in the bar able to pick up on her pregnancy, no matter how small her belly, giving them the reason for her momentary semi-retirement.

Whoever had made the decision had been smart enough to see the bigger picture. Buffy had already proven to do anything to protect the ones she loved. Throw her own child into the mix and only an idiot would think that this would make her softer. Besides, nobody had said anything about them having to change their ways. All they had to do was to leave Buffy alone. And at least the smarter ones never had any intention to fight her in the first place. So the demons had a new rule – as long as the Chosen One was in their territory, she was to be left alone – but nothing else would change.

"Buffy!"

Buffy blinked and found herself standing in front of the hospital. Turning to the left, she saw Julian jogging her way, grinning as he waved and called her name again.

"Buffy, hey. How was your weekend?" Julian unceremoniously linked arms with her and pulled her into the hospital. "I don't know about you, but I had the best time ever!"

Buffy chuckled, "Met a new girl?"

"Yep." Julian spun her in a circle right in the middle of the foyer. "You should try it yourself."

Buffy eyes gleamed with mischief as she replied, "Find myself a girl?"

"Can I watch?" House asked from where he was leaning against the wall.

Julian opened his mouth but no sound came out. Buffy just shrugged her shoulders. "If the price is right."

This time Julian actually squeaked, his eyes opening comically wide. Buffy just shook her head and patted his shoulder. "Come on. It's House we are talking about. Stop being so gullible, it just doesn't suit you."

Julian frowned as House protested by shaking his cane at Buffy. "Hey! Stop breaking my toys."

Looking at Julian, Buffy asked, "See?"

Julian frowned but eventually started to nod. Then he started to grin while he wiggled his eyebrow suggestively. "Can I watch too?"

Both Buffy and House snorted, though for different reasons. "Great, now you're overcompensating."

"Naw," House said. "But he seems to learn fast. Think he'd make a good apprentice?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nope. I mean, your fellows aren't fully House-trained yet and you don't want any accidents to happen, right? Untrained as they are, they might even ruin your image!"

"Hm," Julian said thoughtfully. "Just the other day I've overheard them praise you in the open clinic. Imagine it would have been a patient rather than me overhearing them. He could have specifically asked for you!"

Buffy and House stared at Julian who had a nice blush creeping all over his face. Then they started to grin in unison. Wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye, House put an arm around Buffy. "Damn, they grow up so fast these days!"

"I know!" Grinning, Buffy stepped up to Julian and linked arms with him. "Come on, kiddo. Time to do some actual work."

House watched them leave before walking towards the elevators, quietly chuckling to himself. Cuddy's daughter or not, it sure was never boring with her around.

--

"Are you going to eat _all_ of that?" Kamil asked in disbelief as he watched Buffy put her tray down.

There were two big sandwiches, one Reuben and one BLT, a bowl of soup, a chicken salad, a slice of cheesecake and the mandatory triple chocolate muffin fighting for a bit of space on it.

Julian and Keelan snorted as they stared at Kamil. "Must have been a while since you last joined Buffy for lunch, huh?"

Keelan nodded in agreement to Julian's question.

"Just a tiny bit of advice – eat quick or she'll finish your lunch for you too."

"Very funny." Buffy crossed her arms as she pouted at her friends. "You can't complain about my hungry grumpiness one moment and my eating habits the next. That's so not fair."

Keelan patted her shoulder in conciliation. Leaning over so he could reach Julian's tray, he stole a brownie – meant for Buffy to start with – and put it onto her plate. "There you go. Dessert for the little one."

Buffy sighed in delight as she finished off her soup, the salad was gone already, and went straight for the brownie. After all, soup and salad was a main course. And a main course needed to be followed by a dessert. Then, once she'd finished her baby's lunch, she'd continue with her own – the remaining sandwiches. Of course, they had to be followed by another dessert. Hence the cheesecake and muffin.

"Damn," Kamil said eventually, "I've never seen someone that tiny eat that much!"

Luckily, Buffy was so absorbed in her food that she missed the comment – or Kamil would have been in a lot of trouble. As it was, Julian and Keelan were holding their breath, waiting for Buffy's reply. Only when it became clear that she had somehow missed the comment, did they slowly release their breaths again. There had been another time when they hadn't been that lucky and just the memory of it had goose bumps running up and down their backs.

"Man," Julian said with a shake of his head, "we really need to have a little chat about the foot-in-mouth disease."

Keelan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that was way too close."

Buffy's phone rang just as Kamil wanted to ask what he had been missing. Buffy listened for a moment, a frown starting to appear on her forehead. Then she closed her phone rather forcefully. Snatching the muffin from her tray, she quickly got up and was halfway across the room before she turned to her friends once more. "Sorry!"

They looked at each other then shrugged their shoulders. There was nothing they could do. Other than save the slice of cheesecake from being bored to death, that is.

--

Buffy quickly made her way to the emergency room. Letting out a sigh of relief when she spotted Allison, she hurried over to her. "Hey."

"Buffy?" Allison frowned at her friend, wondering if they had a lunch date she'd forgotten about. "Is something wrong?"

Buffy was already scanning the room for a familiar face. Turning back to Allison, she said, "I've just received a phone call. A friend of mine's been brought here after an accident."

"Oh! I'm sorry. What's the name?" Allison grabbed a nearby nurse while she waited for Buffy to answer.

"Eve. Eve Fairbanks."

Allison gave the nurse next to her a questioning look. The nurse nodded in returned and pointed towards their left. "I'll show you to her."

Buffy gave a curt nod and followed her, unaware of Allison coming as well. Allison had just finished with a patient and thought she might just as well see if she could help. The nurse moved efficiently towards one of the trauma rooms, which meant Buffy's friend was badly injured. Allison thanked the nurse and stepped into the room in front of Buffy.

It was pure chaos. Dr Laura Jameson was working on the head or upper body – Allison couldn't be sure as her view was obstructed by a nurse – and Dr Rafael Rodrigo was tending to one or more open fractures on the legs. The next moment, the request for more blood was drowned out by a request for some medication or other. Allison stepped aside as a nurse was running out of the room, presumably catching something else that was needed.

Looking at Buffy, Allison found her staring at one particular point at the head of the stretcher and, following her line of vision, ended up at the cardiac monitor. Her heart rate was on the fast side and her blood pressure low, but her breathing wasn't too bad. So far so good. It wasn't exactly great but it could be much worse. Now she just needed to get Buffy out of the room so the other doctors could attend to her friend properly.

"She's starting to wake up." One of the nurses announced. Dr Jameson nodded in relief, seeing that her patient had been unconscious ever since the accident and showed signs of a severe head injury. Before she could give any instructions though, Eve started move around violently.

"Easy," Dr Jameson said in a soothing voice – only to be rewarded by her patient's arm lashing out at her, only narrowly missing her. However, that didn't stop her from trying to sit up.

Buffy, having almost been in trance while she stared at the cardiac monitor, willing it to continue beeping, moved quicker than Allison had ever seen her move.

"Sondra?" Buffy asked as she moved to the head of the stretcher.

There was a hick-up from one of the corners. "Yeah?"

"Hold her lower body down, watch out for her injuries."

Sondra sniffed again but appeared at the foot of the bed just as quickly as Buffy head ended up near the other end.

Ignoring the protests of the people around her, Buffy got a firm grip on Eve's shoulders, effectively pushing her back down. "Eve."

The only reaction Buffy got was Eve struggling against her and using her hands to try to pry Buffy's hands of her shoulders.

"Eve. Calm down. Now." Buffy voice changed from soft and comforting to hart and demanding. The effect was immediate. Her struggles ceased – almost anyway – and she blinked several times. Eventually she managed to focus on Buffy.

"Buffy? Hurts."

Buffy took one of her hands of off Eve's shoulder and gently stroked her blood-covered cheek. "I know. But I need you to keep still so the doctors can help you."

Eve whimpered but didn't start to struggle again.

Buffy kept stroking her cheek while she looked up to meet the doctor's eyes. "Pain relief?"

"Uh. Right. Yes. I want to ask run a couple of tests and ask some questions first," Dr Jameson replied. Recognising Buffy's frown for what it was, she added quickly, "I'll be fast."

Buffy nodded, watching as the doctor run some quick tests and asked Eve a few simple questions. True to her word, it only took a few minutes before she asked for more morphine to be added to Eve's drip. Buffy kept contact with Eve until she felt her relax under her hands. "How serious is it?"

Dr Jameson looked at her calculating.

Buffy knew that look well enough. "Eve just turned 18. She doesn't have any blood relatives but I'm one of her medical proxies."

The doctor sighed. "To be honest, I'm surprised she woke up. She took a nasty blow to the head and probably got a fractured skull as a result. She was also loosing a lot of blood but that somehow seems to be in control at the moment. And she's stable for now. We need to get her to radiology for x-rays. As for her legs…"

Buffy looked down and the sight almost made her sick. Bones were sticking out from both her lower legs and her left foot was lying on the stretcher at an unnatural angle. The knee didn't look too good either. "Shit."

"That about sums it up," Dr Rodrigo said. "The only good thing I can tell you is that the blood flow isn't interrupted. But we need to get her in an operating theatre as quickly as possible."

"I agree," Dr Jameson said, handing the wand of the ultrasound machine to a waiting nurse. "I'm worried about both her liver and spleen. There're massive amounts of blood in her abdomen, though, like I said, the bleeding seems to be easing off a bit." She had another look at Eve's vitals before saying to the room in general, "Radiology first and then into the operating theatre. Get a general and an orthopaedic surgeon, they'll have to work on her internal organs and legs at the same time."

Allison gently pulled Buffy aside as Eve was moved out of the room. "You okay?"

Buffy nodded absently, her eyes on the other lost person in the room. She walked over to Sondra who was still as white as a wall and hugged her.

Once she felt herself engulfed in arms of Buffy, Sondra woke from her shock and started sobbing. Buffy could do nothing but stroke her back reassuringly, telling her over and over again that Eve would be fine.

And, Buffy hoped, if she repeated it often enough she might eventually start to believe it herself.

--

_A/N: Well, I don't have any kind of medical degree, so I googled my way through the last bit. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!_


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

It wasn't until almost an hour later that Sondra was ready to talk about what had happened to Eve. They were sitting in a designated waiting area close to the operating theatre Eve had been taken to. Allison had taken them there but, unfortunately, had to go back to work. However, she'd been able to tell Buffy that Chase was in the operating theatre with Eve.

While Sondra was still out of sorts, a police officer had stopped by, leaving a number for Sondra to call, as they'd need her witness statement. Buffy had nodded, completely forgetting to ask what had happened in the first place.

The first clue had come a little while later when a distraught, middle-aged man had appeared in the waiting area. He'd watched them uncertainly before coming over. Nervously playing with his hands, he'd asked Buffy for the injured girl's name so he and his family could include her in their prayers. Still not knowing what had happened, Buffy had asked him why and, after looking at her strangely, he had told her how Eve had pushed his son out of the way of a speeding car only to be hit by it herself. Buffy had closed her eyes at the image in front of her inner eye and given him Eve's name.

Now, with Sondra finally ready to talk, Buffy hoped to get a clearer picture of the situation.

Sondra leaned back into her chair, though she never lost contact with Buffy completely. After blowing her nose, she said quietly, "I'm supposed to be the impulsive one. Not Eve."

Buffy squeezed her hand in a comforting gesture. "What happened?"

"She just started running and pushed the kid out of the way." Sondra looked absently towards the far corner of the room. "I didn't notice anything. I don't know how she knew. I mean, it took a moment for me to run after her – and even then I didn't know why."

"Okay."

Shaking her head, Sondra blinked a couple of times before her eyes focused on Buffy. "We were coming back from an early lunch-break. Just chatting while we walked back to school. Suddenly Eve started running. I took too long to react. It's all my fault."

"No it's not," Buffy said with conviction. Waiting a moment, she asked, "What happened then?"

"I followed. Eve was running towards a boy who'd just started to cross the street. Then I saw the car speeding towards the kid. I already saw him being hit, but then Eve was there, literally throwing him out of harms way, straight into my arms." Fresh tears started to run down Sondra's cheeks as she continued to recall the accident. "Then Eve was flying through the air. I think she'd hit her head on the windshield cause she was all limp even before she hit the ground. I think her … her legs broke when they hit the curb."

"She'll be fine." Buffy didn't know what else to say, so she just kept stroking the younger slayer's back reassuringly.

--

House, having sent off his new fellows to run numerous tests on their newest patient, strolled along the hospital floors in search for some entertainment. Rounding a corner, he found just what he had been looking for.

Dr Lisa Cuddy was click clacking along the corridor.

House stepped right into her way, enjoying the way her annoyed huffing made her chest move up and down. Smirking at her, he deliberately let his eyes wander up and down her body until they ended up right on her chest again.

"Well, _hel-lo_!" House whistled appreciatively. "Looks like mommy is feeding you all the good stuff lately."

Cuddy sighed – causing House's smirk to grow even further because it did wonders to her chest – and tried to push past House. "Go away."

"I can't."

"House."

"It's not my fault your puppies are seducing my innocent eyes. I mean you pushed them right into their field of vision! Now they don't wanna let go!" House said with a whining tone to his voice.

Cuddy grabbed his chin and forced his face up. "There you go. Now leave me alone."

House watched her go, pondering the distressed look he'd glimpsed in her eyes. Tilting his head, he watched her leave – and started to frown. Either he was starting to imagine things or the puppies weren't the only things Cuddy had worked on lately.

Intrigued, he changed his original direction and followed her – only to see her vanishing into one of the elevators. Luckily she was alone, so he at least knew which level she'd be heading to.

--

House stepped off the elevator and pondered on where to go next. Twirling his cane in his hands, he looked in every possible direction. Then he saw a nicely built nurse walking to the right and figured he might just as well enjoy the view while he was looking for Cuddy.

He was about to follow her around another corner when he heard the familiar sound of a particular pair of heels hitting the floor to his right. Sure enough, Cuddy was vanishing behind a door that lead to the waiting rooms near the operating theatres.

Giving the nurse one last lingering look, House changed directions and followed Cuddy.

--

"Buffy." Lisa quickly made her way to her daughter who was pacing up and down the waiting area.

Stopping, Buffy looked up and gave her mom a little wave. "What are you doing here?"

"Allison called." Taking Buffy's hand, she let her over to the chairs and was ready to push her into one of them when Buffy shook her head and moved a little further; finally sitting down next to a young woman Lisa hadn't seen before.

"This is Sondra. She was with Eve when the accident happened," Buffy explained. "And this is Dr Lisa Cuddy."

Sondra looked up hopefully. "Is Eve gonna be okay?"

Lisa gave her a reassuring smile. "Her internal injuries have been taken care off."

"Her legs?" Buffy asked.

"We'll have to wait and see. I honestly don't know."

Sondra pulled her legs up and hugged them close to her chest. "It's all my fault."

"No it's not," Buffy said determinedly. "It was an accident, okay? A bit of rest and she'll be as good as new."

Lisa touched her daughter's shoulder. "Uh, Buffy…"

Buffy held up her hand to stop her mom. "The girls are working for the IWC."

"Oh… oh!" Lisa felt a tiny bit better – the girl's chances for a full recovery had just improved a lot simply by being a slayer.

--

"House. What are you doing here?"

Swearing silently at the interruption – just when it started to get interesting too – House casually turned around to face Chase. "Resting. Bum leg, remember?"

Robert Chase, still clad in his scrubs, looked around the corner and shook his head. "You're spying on Cuddy. Or Buffy. Or _both_?"

House mimicked Chase's movement and looked over to Buffy and Cuddy. Opening his eyes in mock-shock, he put his right hand over his heart. "I _honestly_ didn't know they were here."

"Whatever." Chase gave House a disapproving look, not that it would do any good anyway, and walked over to them. "Hey."

Buffy jumped up immediately even though she'd barely sat down, looking at him with questioning eyes. Sondra followed suit, holding tightly onto Buffy's arm. "How's Eve?"

"She'll pull through." Chase said in his most reassuring tone. "She had a ruptured liver but it looked worse on the initial scan than it actually was. She still lost a lot of blood, but we've been able to stop the bleeding surprisingly easily."

Buffy released a sigh of relief and carefully tried to pry Sondra's hand off of her arm. She was thankfully wearing a long-sleeved top or they'd both be in a bit of trouble explaining how Sondra could cause such heavy bruising by simply squeezing her arm.

"That's great. Thanks." Buffy moved over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks."

Chase smiled, then sighed theatrically and called, "House. You can come out now." Looking apologetically at Cuddy, he added, "I found him lurking around the corner."

"He arrived just after Dr Cuddy," Sondra said.

"I know." Buffy sighed when House didn't make an appearance. "House! Make with the appearing. Or even disappearing. But _stop_ lurking!"

"You called?" House said innocently as he came around the corner and sauntered towards them. Silently, though, he wondered how both Buffy and her friend knew he'd been lurking in the first place.

Cuddy and Buffy rolled their eyes at him while Sondra gave him a careful once-over. Then she resumed her silent vigil, ignoring the people around her. They couldn't tell her anything new, so there was no reason to waste any energy on listening when she could spent it much more effectively on worrying about her close friend.

House made himself at home in one of the more comfortable chairs, putting his bad leg up a small table in front of his seat. Chase shook his head at House before excusing himself and getting back to work. He had another operation scheduled in only a few minutes time.

"I've got to go too." Eyeing House suspiciously, Lisa asked Buffy, "Want me to drag him out of here?"

Buffy gave her a genuine smile, feeling much better now that Chase had been able to give them some good news. "He'll just come running back later."

Lisa turned towards House, squinting her eyes at him. "Behave!"

House looked around as if he was looking for something. "Who? Me?"

"Ye-es, House, you."

"Yes mom! I mean, ma'am!" House said, smirking at Cuddy when she stopped short. They stared at each other for another minute before Lisa huffed and left.

While House and her mom were busy staring at each other, Buffy eyed him suspiciously. She could have sworn his comment wasn't just a slip of tongue but absolutely intended. She'd have to ask Lisa later about the possibility of House knowing their secret.

House made himself even more comfortable and watched Buffy for a moment before asking, "So, the kid over there's working for the IWC? Same guys that sponsored your charity run?"

Buffy nodded absently while she looked worriedly at Sondra.

House tapped his chin with his forefinger thoughtfully. "What would two young woman do with an organisation dealing in mostly antique objects?"

Buffy stopped short. "Huh?" Seeing House's lopsided smirk, she took a deep breath and concentrated on his last remark. It took a moment before his words fully registered in her mind. "Oh. Uh. _Student_ jobs, you know. There's a lot of random stuff involved in the whole process. Dawn could give you this totally long and overly boring explanation but I … well, I frankly can't be bothered."

"Dawn?" She was working for the IWC too? House hadn't expected that. Not that he'd learned all that much about the mysterious company other than it was operating in a lot of places and - amongst other, unnamed things - that it was dealing with ancient artefacts and writings. This included checking the authenticity of said objects and translating obscure books and texts. For an appropriate fee, of course.

"Yep. She's working part-time as well. I mean, now that she's learning all those stuffy old languages she might just as well put them to good use," Buffy said.

"Why?" House asked. Dawn had seemed so fun and, in his books, ancient languages were … ordinarily boring.

"To call me names in languages I can't understand?" Buffy quipped.

Okay, that sounded much more like Dawn, House thought – and smirked.

Sighing, Buffy added, "She's got a real talent for languages, no matter how obscure. She's good at it and she loves it. Dawn likes to point out that translating an old text is like solving a puzzle. It takes a lot of patience and quite a bit of detective work to find all the right references and make sense of it."

Puzzles, now that was something House could understand – so he grinned even more. "Ah, puzzles! Speaking of which –" House tilted his head and took a closer look at the girl at Buffy's side. "Hey! Oh Sulking One!"

"House!" Buffy growled warningly while Sondra just shot him a death-glare.

"What? We haven't been introduced and she's sulking," House said with a shrug. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

This time the death-glare was accompanied by an impressive growl. But, with House being House, it made him grin rather than discourage him.

"House!" Buffy repeated.

"What?" he said, blinking his eyes rapidly. "Just trying to help."

"It's not working." Buffy pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "Now leave Sondra alone."

"Fine." House closed his eyes and lifted his chin in a mock-pout. "Just wondered about her dislocated shoulder."

"Huh?" Buffy looked from House to Sondra and back. "What dislocated shoulder? Sondra?"

"'Tis nothing. Put it back in straight away," Sondra said dismissively. Turning to Buffy, she asked, "How long does this stupid operation take anyway?"

"_Who_ put it back in?" House asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "The janitor?"

Sondra growled again. "_I_ did."

"Sondra," Buffy said gently, while being mad at herself for not noticing the way the younger slayer was favouring her right arm and shoulder – no matter how small the difference. "Let me have a look, please."

House watched with interest as Sondra let Buffy move her arm and shoulder around. She winced a tiny bit once or twice but went back to sulking almost immediately. Now that was interesting. The girl had just shrugged off a dislocated shoulder like it was nothing – almost like it was a normal occurrence. Maybe it was time to dig a bit deeper into the IWC. He quickly took his leave of them and left for his office to do just that.

--

Buffy watched Sondra sleep in a chair next to Eve's bed. Eve had come out of the operating theatre several hours ago and the orthopaedic surgeon had told them there was a good chance she'd make a full recovery from her leg injuries.

All in all, Buffy had been ready to go home – once she'd made sure Eve was waking up as expected from her anaesthesia. However, when Eve was halfway conscious again, she mentioned something about the accident that had made Buffy worry. So she had postponed a night in her own bed for watching over the two young slayers currently sleeping in front of her.

Buffy quietly made her way over to the window, staring out into the night, pondering Eve's recollection of the accident.

"Shouldn't you give the kid some rest?"

Buffy turned around in surprise before a small smile spread across her face. "Faith."

She was casually leaning against the doorframe wearing her biker outfit. She was smirking, but Buffy could even from the distance see the worry in her sister slayer's eyes.

Stroking her belly, Buffy said, "He prefers sleeping during the day."

"He?" Faith pushed herself off the doorframe and made her way into the room. She'd dropped her helmet and saddlebag next to the door and went straight over to Eve's bed. "How is she?"

"She'll be fine," Buffy said reassuringly. "Her legs were pretty messed up so it might be a while, but she'll be fine."

Faith gently brushed a finger over Eve's forehead before turning back to Buffy. "What happened? Just got a hysterical call from Sondra telling me Eve had an accident?"

Buffy offered Faith a bottle of water before she told her everything she'd learned from both the girls. Then she went on and told her about the whole demon deal they've struck recently.

Apparently, Faith came up with the same question Buffy had earlier. "So, accident or intention?" Faith asked.

Buffy had pondered that question for the last couple of hours or so and had come to some sort of conclusion. "Both. Eve being hit was sort of accidentally but aiming at the boy wasn't. I mean, why else would she have had a vision of that particular kid being run over?"

Faith pondered Buffy answer when Eve started to stir. Buffy and Faith were at her side in a heartbeat. "She's dreaming. Vision or nightmare," Faith unnecessarily pointed out.

Buffy nodded and both women held Eve down, preventing her from aggravating her injuries any further. Sondra, woken by her friends moaning and thrashing around, helped as well. Finally the fighting stopped and Eve opened her eyes. "Faith?"

"Hey kiddo."

"The boy! They're after him again!" Eve tried to get up but three pairs of hands stopped her.

Faith sat down next to her, holding her chin firmly in her hand. "Calm down."

Eve relaxed almost immediately and Faith got her to relay her dream. It seemed like Buffy's assumption had been right. The accident had nothing to do with Eve, she just happened to be there to safe the boy. The kid, however, really was in trouble. For some reason or other, a couple of demons wanted him dead. And that _was_ their problem.

In the end they had decided for Buffy to stay with Eve and try to catch some sleep as well while Faith and Sondra went looking for the boy. Sondra was itching to do something now that they knew some of what was going on. But there was no way either Faith or Buffy would let her go out on her own. As Buffy had to work the next day and, yes, was pregnant, Faith had quickly overruled her and said she was going with Sondra. Besides, they had a lot of catching up to do and how were they supposed to exchange embarrassing stories about Buffy with her present?

--

Buffy woke to whispering voices a few hours later. She opened her eyes and, after a couple of blinks, recognised her mom checking over Eve's injuries.

"Mom?" Buffy asked – and immediately looked up in shock, hoping Eve hadn't overheard her.

Of course, her life wasn't working that way. Seeing Buffy's expression, Eve smiled sheepishly. "Uh, I didn't hear anything?"

Buffy rubbed her face tiredly. "It's complicated and not exactly common knowledge. In the hospital, I mean. And outside, I guess." Buffy scowled at Lisa as she saw her slow smile. "You're not helping, you know!"

Lisa's smile grew even further. "You look cute when you're all flustered."

"Fine." Buffy crossed her arms in a pout. "Make with the fun having. I'm going to … _crap_!"

Eve and Lisa broke out laughing, leaving Buffy to stare at them in confusion. "Wha-?" Then she realised just _what_ she had said – and blushed. Again. Huffing, she put her hands on her hips. "I just realised how _late_ it is, okay!?"

"Sorry," Eve managed to say between more giggles.

"Hm." Frowning, she searched the room for any signs of Sondra and Faith. "Where are-?"

"In our apartment. Showering, changing. All that stuff," Eve said.

Buffy nodded. Looking at her mom, she frowned again.

Reading her daughter's thoughts, Lisa smiled. "I've taken over Eve's care. I figured it'd be easier than explaining her quick recovery."

"Oh. It makes sense, I guess. Thanks. I've just never seen you all white and doctor-y. You even got one of the listening thingies!"

Lisa shook her head at Buffy's excited voice. "Stethoscope."

"That's what I said, listening thingy," Buffy said nonchalantly. "So, how's Eve?"

The young woman said immediately, "I'm fine."

"She's doing good," Lisa said with a smile. "It's one thing to hear about fast healing but a completely different matter to see it at such a scale!"

Frowning, Eve looked at Buffy. Right, so this woman – which she happened to like – was somehow Buffy's mother. Apparently she also knew about slayers – and readily accepted it. Eve really trusted Buffy but this was still … feeling a bit odd.

Seeing the growing suspicion in Eve's face, Lisa said quietly, "I've been a Potential. I had some training before they decided I wasn't going to be called."

"From a certain Englishman," Buffy added.

Eve's eyes grew huge. "Mr Giles?"

Lisa nodded.

"Wow."

"Wow what?" Sondra asked as she entered the room.

"Buffy's mom is a former Potential! And Mr Giles was her watcher!" Eve said excitedly. Then she remembered the supposed secret. "Oops?"

"Yeah, yeah. Right. I've got to run. Behave and keep your mouth shut, okay? Especially beware the grumpy cane guy. Oh, and Faith knows, so talking to her is okay," Buffy said before leaving the room for a quick shower and breakfast.

--

_A/N: Muse simply didn't want to come to the point. Bah. I even had to sneak some plot points in when she wasn't looking. But she's already written down the outline for next chapter, so all is well! Anyway, thanks for reviewing again!_

_Oh! And I can actually see an end to this!  
_


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Buffy snuggled deeper into her comforter. Not only was it Sunday, so there was no reason for her to be at work, but it was also cold outside. Well, colder than the early November temperatures she was used to during most of her life anyway. Hence the snuggling into the warmth of her bed.

Last night she had officially introduced Faith to Allison and Chase over dinner. She'd been a bit worried about them getting along, especially with Faith' tendency to flirt openly with most men, but Faith had easily broken the ice by telling them how – and why – Buffy had been banned from cooking in her own house. Even though Buffy had pointed out that she was a good cook now, a fact that was proven by everyone loving her food and demanding extras, this and similar stories about Buffy's early cooking experiments had all of them in fits of laughter throughout dinner.

After that the rest of the evening had gone by quickly. By the end of it, a lot of old and embarrassing stories of each of them had found a new and thankful audience. Once Allison and Chase had left for their home, Buffy had gotten ready for bed while Faith had gone patrolling. Buffy had just raised an eyebrow and commented on how the club scene was a demon and vampire free zone that night. Faith had smirked and left with an extra sway in her hips.

Buffy sighed and opened her eyes. No matter how much she wanted to stay in bed, she simple wasn't tired anymore. Besides, her little passenger demanded food. Jumping out of her bed, she quickly made her way into the bathroom for a long and hot shower – growling stomach and all. While she let the hot water massage her back, her thoughts returned to Faith.

Her sister slayer had stayed close to Eve throughout that first day in hospital. Earlier that day, Faith and Sondra had managed to save the boy from yet another demon attack and figure out the reasons behind them. Sondra's recollection of the latter had been so vivid, that Buffy could still – almost a week later - see it in front of her eyes. That girl really had a way of describing things.

_"That's the bar," Sondra told Faith, pointing unnecessarily at the only bar in the street._

_It looked innocent enough to Faith. In fact, it looked so innocent that you would only recognising it for what it really was when you were looking for it. Of course, a lot of demon bars worked that way, so Faith wasn't surprised. _

_Schooling her face and pushing the worry about Eve into the far corner of her mind, Faith opened the door and sauntered in, her favourite knife dancing between her fingers. The effect was immediate even though Sondra kept out of side – the bar went quiet. _

_Just like Buffy had done not so long ago, Faith walked over to the bar and jumped up in one fluid motion. "Here's the deal. There's a contract on a little boy. I get the right name and address and you get to live. For now… Maybe."_

_"Says who?"_

_"Me." Faith stared at the Shur-hod demon and slowly, teasingly, took her favourite battle-axe from its hiding place at her back. Smirking at him, she added, "Never been a fan of your kind myself. And you're so easy to kill it's disappointing. Always have to go on a little killing spree afterwards to quell the disappointment."_

_The Shur-hod demon gulped visibly and slowly but surely melted back into the background. Faith snorted and gave the room in general another look. "Come on! I'm getting bored and might just have to start killing you guys randomly!" Faith hadn't even finished her sentence when a stake flew half across the room, dusting a female vampire. "And I really hate vampires!"_

_"Slayer," a Sadecki demon acknowledged._

_"D'oh! What gave me away?" _

_The Sadecki demon chuckled. "The way you entered the bar, actually. I just thought I might spell it out for the less … bright ones."_

_"How nice of you." Faith grinned at him. "Name's Faith."_

_"The Dark Slayer," the Sadecki demon said. "I am Calrod. It's an … honour to meet you."_

_Faith, having identified Calrod as on of their leaders the moment he started talking, looked him straight in the eyes. "Yeah. Whatever. Name and address?"_

_Calrod stared right back. Then, almost unnoticeably even to those standing close by, he gave a tiny nod. A couple of minutes later, a slip of paper appeared on the bar next to her feet. Jumping down, she took a quick look and nodded at Calrod. Ignoring everyone else, she made her way towards the door and left the way she had entered it – with the door slamming closed behind her._

Rolling her eyes at the cliché-ness of the confrontation in the bar, Buffy turned off the water and wrapped herself in a large, fluffy towel before allowing her thoughts to drift back again.

After leaving the bar, Sondra and Faith had gone to the address and, according to Faith, _had danced with the minions, freed the virgin (which happened to be an about 10 week old kitten), sliced-and-diced the head-honcho and gotten the prophecy that had started the whole kill the boy deal._

Now the prophecy – both the original and the translation the wanna-be warlock had – was in Dawn's hands. This reminded Buffy to give her sister a call later today when she was at their mom's. Ever since she had visited, Dawn had asked for weekly updates on her pregnancy. Buffy didn't really mind, even found it endearing, but Dawn could get a bit annoying when Buffy missed to call on time. Or when Buffy dared to call just before she left to see their mom. Because, as Dawn had pointed out last week, it just wasn't fair for Buffy to have their mom all for herself. So the least Buffy could do was call from Lisa's house and put her on speakerphone.

Smiling at the thought of Dawn's little quirks, Buffy dressed and went into the kitchen to find enough food to please her baby – only to be greeted by the aforementioned tabby kitten. Bending down, she scooped the little cat up and was quickly rewarded with a warm body snuggling into her chest, purring in absolute contentment.

Tickling the kitten's chin, Buffy said, "Come on, breakfast time."

--

"How's Eve doing?" Dawn asked her sister after they finished talking about all the important things. Like her little niece or nephew. Or the new, kitten-shaped addition to the Summers household.

"Much better," Buffy said. "It'll probably take a few weeks until we'll let her get back on patrol duty, but she'll make a full recovery."

"And I still can't believe it," Lisa said in wonderment.

"Which is why we've sent her back to Cleveland," Buffy said with a smile. "Just imagine House strolling into her room and having a closer look at her injuries!"

Dawn snickered. "I'd have paid to see you come up with an explanation!"

Buffy glared at the phone while Lisa giggled. "You're just mad because you can't throw anything at Dawn."

Huffing, Buffy crossed her arms in front of her and pouted.

"Pouting?" Dawn asked in amusement.

"Yep."

"I guess it's a bad time to mention my ingenious plan to keep House from digging deeper into the IWC," Dawn said innocently.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"He's only found the official information yet. But he started digging deeper after Eve's accident and, well, having met him, we know he won't stop until he solves the puzzle," Dawn explained.

"Which wouldn't be of the good," Buffy continued.

Lisa nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Buffy said in resignation, giving up on her pout. "Spill the plan, sis'."

"Well, I talked with Willow about it," Dawn said excitedly.

"Dawn!"

"Bah. Calm down, Buf. I didn't mention the baby," Dawn said dismissively. "I just mentioned House and how he wouldn't give up until he solved the puzzle surrounding the IWC. See, I had this idea but didn't know how to pull it off."

Both Buffy and Lisa could hear the grin in Dawn's voice. They looked at each other and started to grin too. This was going to be interesting.

"Anyway," Dawn continued, "it's a bit like hypnosis. Only it's magical."

Buffy rolled her eyes at Lisa when Dawn didn't continue. Sighing theatrical, she said, "Okay, you've got us. Now spill!"

"Basically, every time House starts looking into the IWC again, he'll forget what he was going to do. He'll remember the official cover story and all, but that's it."

"How exactly are you going to do that?" Lisa asked curiously. "I mean, once House finds a puzzle he wants to solve, he won't let go until he's solved it to his satisfaction! For goodness' sake, that man _willingly_ electrocuted himself because a patient told him about his own amazing near death experience!"

"Really?" Dawn asked in disbelieve.

Lisa snorted. "Really."

"Wow!" Dawn took a deep breath before she added, sounding rather sheepishly, "Anyway, we kinda did it already?"

"What!?"

"Well, you see, Willow came up with this really simple spell. But we still needed a Wicca to perform it and Jenna was in the area for only a day. She had all the necessary supplies so I decided to go ahead with it and have her perform the spell on House. She went to the open clinic as a patient, had a quick word with nurse Brenda and Brenda put Jenna next on the list of patients for House to see. Jenna went in, House snarled at her, Jenna performed the spell without him noticing, House snarled some more and Jenna left. End of story," Dawn said quickly – and without breathing.

"Breath!" Lisa said – and chuckled when she heard Dawn taking a deep breath.

Buffy, on the other side of couch, had her head buried in her hands. "What have I done to deserve this?"

Lisa shuffled over and patted her daughter's shoulder. "We'll just sick House on her if he should ever find out."

"Okay," Buffy grumbled. Sighing again, she looked at the phone on the couch table. "Did it work?"

"Yep," Dawn said, her voice laced with barely repressed giggles. "I called him earlier. We had a bit of small talk and then I _accidentally_ complained about my job with the IWC. He pricked up his ears immediately – and forgot about it just as fast!" Dawn lost the fight against her giggles and needed a few seconds to be able to talk again. "He asked me a completely unrelated question afterwards."

Buffy raised her eyebrows at that while Lisa smiled. Then Lisa remembered something else. Squinting her eyes, she asked, "Wait, why did Brenda let your friend go on top of the list?"

"She's a half-demon," Dawn explained before Buffy could stop her.

"What?!"

"Oops? I guess Buffy hadn't mentioned it yet?" Dawn offered feebly.

Lisa glared at her daughter. "No-o. She must have forgotten about it."

"Pregnancy brain?" Buffy said sheepishly. "Anyway, Dawn, you should have told me, _us_, about the spell. Then we could have added something else."

"What?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Yeah, what?" Lisa asked in confusion.

"Uh, it's something else I kinda wanted to talk to you about?"

Dawn chuckled on the other side of the phone. "Pregnancy brain? _Again_?"

Buffy huffed but otherwise ignored her sister's smug reply. "It's just … well, I'm not sure. But I think House might know about … you know, _us_."

Lisa's head snapped up with such a force, that even Dawn could hear it. "Damn! I thought it was just imagining things! I mean, it's _House_. He thrives on making random assumptions."

Dawn suggested, "Maybe that's all it is?"

"You think so?" Lisa asked hopefully.

Buffy snorted before Dawn could reply. "It's us, remember? These things never work our way."

"That's true too."

"So what are we going to do now?" Lisa asked.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. Maybe we should just wait and see? Maybe you're right and he's just fishing in the dark?"

Lisa nodded slowly, an idea forming in her head already. Maybe there was a way she could find out without House noticing.

"Anyway," Dawn asked, "How's Faith doing?"

Buffy smiled. Faith had accompanied Eve on the plane to Cleveland but had returned a day later, claiming she couldn't just leave her beloved motorcycle behind. That night, Buffy had gotten two extra-large tubs of ice cream and she and Faith had sat down to talk – with a bit of interference from Buffy's new kitten, of course. As it had turned out, she and Robin had this huge fight and needed some space to come to grips with their relationship.

Watching her friend for a while, seeing the indecision in her eyes, Buffy had offered her the guestroom. And, instead of declining and taking her motorbike to run away further from her problems like she'd have done a few years ago, Faith had gratefully accepted the offer. This, in itself, had shown just how much both of them had changed. Grown up, really. In Sunnydale or shortly after Buffy would neither have made the offer nor would Faith have accepted it.

The next day, Sondra had come over as well and, nervously, asked if it would be all right if she'd go to Cleveland to stay with Eve. She'd already talked to her course supervisor and, as long as she'd hand in several essays on the topics they'd cover during her absence, she'd agreed after hearing of Eve's accident.

Buffy had taken one look at Sondra and Faith and suggested a switch for the next few weeks. Sondra would go to Cleveland, even take a break and spend some time with her family, while Faith would take over the Slayer duties here in Princeton-Plainsboro.

This way they could give up the apartment Eve and Sondra had been sharing already, and they'd come back to Buffy's current apartment after she'd moved into her new house. It would also give Faith and Robin a definite time apart rather than leave each of them wondering when Faith would return to Cleveland. They had readily agreed and, two days ago, Buffy had gotten a call from Robin, thanking her for her suggestion.

Still smiling, Buffy finally answered Dawn's question, "Five by five."

--

Smirking, Buffy strolled into Coma Guy's room, expecting House to hide in there and watch General Hospital.

Only, once she entered the room, it was distinctively empty. Well, there was Coma Guy … and an old lady reading to him from a book. That was new. But it also explained House's absence. Shrugging her shoulders, Buffy went to one of her best sources of House's whereabouts.

"Hey, Brenda!" Buffy greeted the half-demon. "Have you seen House? He's hiding from his next torturing lesson again."

Smirking, Brenda pointed at exam room two. "He's been with a patient for the past five minutes. Should be done any moment now."

"Thanks!" Buffy stole two lollipops from the desk and went to stand next to the examination room House was in. While she waited for the door to open, she unwrapped one of the lollipops and put it in her mouth.

Brenda raised an eyebrow, shaking her head. It looked like House managed to pass his fondness for her lollipops on to the Slayer.

Then she shuddered involuntarily. Last Tuesday she had come into work as usual – and had almost turned and taken a long vacation. Not because of anything House had done – she could handle him just fine – but because she had suddenly found herself in the presence of not just one but _four_ slayers. New policy of only killing bad demons or not, Brenda had felt true fear for the first time in her life. True, she'd often tasted the fears of others, but this was the first time her own feelings were overpowering everything else.

Luckily, Buffy had chosen that moment to pass the clinic. Hands shaking, Brenda had stopped the passing slayer and asked why there were four of them around. Learning that the other three slayers would leave the hospital later that day, she had calmed down slightly and continued her shift.

But she had kept her ears in the demon grapevine – and knew just who had been in her hospital. And was still haunting the city. The Dark Slayer.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Buffy coming back to her desk. "He'll need another few minutes."

"Do you think he knows you're waiting for him?" Brenda asked curiously.

Buffy snorted. "Probably."

Brenda smiled. Then she started to fiddle with one of the pens in front of her. Buffy watched her for a minute than she rolled her eyes. "Spill."

"Huh?"

"You look nervous."

"Oh!" Brenda dropped the pen and looked at Buffy sheepishly. "Oh. I … uh … was wondering, you know, if you'd let me know if House should ever met the Dark Slayer?"

Buffy stared at her - and started laughing. "Carnage!"

Brenda nodded. "Uh, she knows I'm alright, right?" she asked nervously.

Buffy patted her arm. "Don't worry. Faith has calmed down."

Brenda breathed a sigh of relief.

"Some," Buffy added, eyes twinkling with mischief. Pointing towards examination room two, she added, "I believe he's finally finished."

On clue, the door opened and a middle-aged woman left the room. Rushing past her, Buffy slipped into the room before House could escape.

--

_A/N: Uh … where did the kitten come from!? Honestly, Muse is driving me crazy with her little additions! Well, it's a good crazy-ness :P. Anyway, any suggestions for a name? I'm pretty sure it's a female … (Which doesn't mean anything, really. I'm writing some original fiction too – and several chapters in Muse decided to change the main character's gender … in the middle of a scene!). Some more Buffy and House next! And House might come face to face with Faith. If Muse agrees._


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

"Hi House," Buffy said cheerfully as she entered the examination room.

House scowled at her. "It's gloom-day. No smiling allowed."

Buffy's grin widened even more. "And I missed you too."

Rolling his eyes, but unable to hide his own smirk, he pointed towards the examination table. "Hop up."

"Huh?"

"It's been over four weeks. Need to make sure the parasite is behaving," he said.

Buffy groaned. And whined. "He's sleeping. I don't wanna wake him and have to deal with grumpy baby all day."

Smirking, House pointed at the examination table again while getting the ultrasound machine into place. "I might just print you a nice picture."

Grumbling some more, Buffy threw the remainder of her lollipop away and went to lie down. It wasn't like she really was against the ultrasound - in fact, she loved the small black and white printouts she got afterwards - the grumbling was merely part of their game. And they both knew it.

Still, just to be sure, Buffy closed her eyes for a moment and listened for her baby. Smiling as she heard the familiar bum-bum-bum-bum, she opened her eyes again and exposed her belly – only to yelp when House squirted the cold gel onto it almost immediately. "_Hey_!"

--

Faith stopped and looked at the building in front of her. So this was the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Shrugging, she patted the small bag she'd tucked under her arm and entered, following the signs to the open clinic.

She stopped a moment to take everything in before stepping to the nurses' desk. "Hey."

Without looking up, the nurse pushed a form in front of her. "Fill this in and bring it back. Then you'll be seen as soon as possible."

Faith snorted. "Yeah, right."

The nurse, Brenda, stopped short and looked up – her eyes becoming as big as saucers when her senses caught up with her and she realised just who she was talking to. "The Dark Slayer!" she whispered awe-struck. "Uh, you know I'm … you know?"

Faith grinned but nodded. "Know where B is?"

Brenda frowned for the second it took her to work out who B was. Then she smiled shyly, pointing towards the doors behind Faith. "Examination room two. With Dr House."

The grin on Faith' face grew even further. "Sweet. Always wanted to meet him."

"Meow."

Brenda looked up in alarm. "Was that a _cat_?"

"Naw." Patting the bag at her side, grinning as another 'meow' followed this, Faith said, "Definitely not a cat." It was just a little kitten, after all.

Well, Brenda certainly wasn't mad enough to correct Faith so she chose to ignore the noise. "Okay. Otherwise I'd have to ask you to leave it outside."

"Naw, that's fine." Faith nodded towards the door with the number two on it. "In there, right?"

Brenda nodded. Faith smirked again before walking straight to the door. Stopping just short of it, she tilted her head slightly to listen. Chuckling at what she had heard, she quietly opened the door and slipped in.

--

"What?" House asked innocently before placing the wand onto her belly, spreading the cold gel even further.

Buffy grumbled and squinted her eyes at him. "Meanie."

House grinned and gave a tiny bow. "Thank you! I always try to give my best." Moving the wand some more, he added, "Now lets see if we can get the gender of the little bugger."

Buffy cupped her hands in front of her mouth and, leaning towards her belly, said, "Run! Hide from the big bad wo-… meanie!"

House snorted, eyes twinkling when they met Buffy's. "Nice try."

"Yep." Buffy grinned like the cat that inherited the creamery. "He just moved. Twenty bucks he's showing off his back!"

"Deal!"

Faith couldn't stay quiet any longer and snorted.

"Faith!" Buffy said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Was in the area." Faith pushed herself off the door and sauntered over to them, giving House a long, lingering look as she passed him. "Nice ass."

House leaned over theatrically, checking out Faith in return. Although, her tight leather pants, much to his delight, didn't leave any room for speculations anyway. "Likewise." His eyes wandering appreciatively over the rest of her body before he grinned boyishly. "Nice figure in general."

Chuckling, Faith looked down her own body. Her top matched the leather pants, both in its tightness and in revealing more than it covered. It was sleeveless and showed off her cleavage just nicely. "Can't complain."

"Hel-lo! I'm still here, you know," Buffy said with a pout. "And you still owe me 20 bucks."

Faith snickered. "Want me to collect them for you?"

House moaned, pressing his hands over his heart. "Yes, _please_!"

Faith moved next to House, pressing her body into his side. Tracing a finger along the side of his face, she waggled her eyebrows. "How's that for a start?"

Buffy groaned and covered her eyes with her arm while House and Faith laughed. Faith squeezed his butt before moving over to Buffy, taking her free hand in hers. "'Kay, let's see the kiddo."

Still grinning, House picked up the wand again and turned the monitor so everyone could see it. "By the way, I want cash."

"Keep dreaming!"

House let his eyes wander suggestively over Faith' body again before meeting Buffy's eyes. "Love to."

Buffy only huffed and grumbled something unintelligible. Faith patted Buffy's shoulder. "Open your eyes or you won't know if he's cheating."

House looked at them in shock. "Cheating? Who, _me_?"

"Yep." Faith said with a grin as she pointed at the monitor. "Because that looks like a perfectly fine back to me."

Buffy took a closer look as well and smiled. No matter which way House was going to move the wand, there was no way they'd get a clear picture of her baby's gender today. "Twenty bucks, House. Cash only."

House looked between the monitor and the two women. True, the parasite was showing them its back, but he had still hoped he could convince them otherwise if need be. He wondered how-

"Meow."

"Huh?" The sound had caught him completely off-guard, hence the 'huh'-ing.

Unfortunately, Buffy picked up on it as well and snickered. "First you lose 20 bucks and now you're lost for words? You must be getting old or something!"

"Hey!" House protested – and someone else seemed to agree. "Meow!"

"First 'huh', then 'hey'," Faith pondered while she patted her bag, "Can't say you're improving."

"Meow." This time the sound was followed by the side of Faith' bag moving until a small head popped out at the top. "Mee-ouw!"

Buffy tilted her head, then stroke the chin of Faith's passenger. "She looks pretty pleased with herself."

Faith put her hand in the bag and carefully lifted the kitten out, settling it in the crook of her arm. The kitten purred, causing Faith to chuckle. "And sounds it too. Right Ante?"

"Mrooww." The kitten licked Faith's arm once before snuggling in closer.

"Ante!?" Buffy looked at Faith in shock. "You didn't!"

Grinning, Faith shrugged her shoulders. "Thought it fit. And Ante likes her name."

"No she doesn't," Buffy said sternly as she cleaned the ultrasound gel off her stomach. "We'll call her … Kitty."

The kitten lifted her head and actually hissed at her. House laughed. "I don't think she agrees. So, Ante? As in poker?"

"Kitten poker," Faith said as if it was your standard everyday game while she nuzzled the kitten's head.

House raised his eyebrows. "Kitten poker?"

"Uh huh."

"That's stupid."

Ante agreed. Loudly.

"I think she's got a thing for you," Faith said to House.

House threw his head back, brushing his hair with his fingers. "What can I say, I'm simply irresistible."

There was a snort coming from the direction of the door. "Keep dreaming," Lisa Cuddy said mockingly.

House scratched Ante behind her ears, chuckling as her purring became even louder. "She's just jealous," he told the kitten in a conspiring voice.

Lisa crossed her arms and tapped one foot on the floor while she looked between House and Faith.

Faith grinned and, despite the little kitten's protests, carefully put Ante back into her bag. "Well, we'll be off again. Seeing the sights, finding us some guys to buy us lunch, having some fun." Faith waved to Buffy, then brushed passed House, stroking his chin again as she did so. "See you later!" One last wink at Lisa and Faith was gone.

Lisa just rolled her eyes - after all, she had met Faith before and liked her – before she walked over to House. She pushed the folder she'd been holding into his hands and glared at him. "Care to explain?"

House looked at the plain, unlabelled file for a moment before grinning at her. "Well, Cuddles, that looks like a remarkable unmarked folder to me."

"Open it."

House raised an eyebrow but followed the request. Even though he recognised the papers inside immediately, he pretended to carefully read through everything. Scratching his chin, he said, "Congratulation, it's a girl … Jane Smith's girl, apparently. Gotta love maternity tests, don't you?"

"Uh, hello?" Buffy said from the background. "Confused person in the room!?"

Both Lisa and House ignored her. Buffy put her arms on her hips and stuck her bottom lip out – yet nobody took notice. Huffing, she sat down on the examination table again and sulked.

Meanwhile, Lisa and House were staring at each other intensely - House with a little smirk on his face while Lisa's lips were pressed together tightly and her eyes were squinted. Eventually, Lisa grabbed the file from him again and shut it forcefully.

"You've got a new patient."

"I've just diagnosed the last one this morning!" House protested immediately.

"Exactly," Lisa gave him a sweet smile. "Which means you can concentrate on the new one straight away. Your fellows are talking to him and going over his previous test results as we speak."

House rubbed his hands together in glee. "That leaves just enough time for the second half of General Hospital!" He turned around to switch his portable TV on – only to find it missing.

"Nuh huh," Buffy said cheerfully, holding up the TV for House to see. This was so much more fun than sulking in the corner. Or on the examination table. "It's just enough time for pampering your leg."

"But-"

"Nope. You got to play already, _twice_, now it's my turn." Buffy jumped off the examination table and patted it. "Lose your jeans and hop up. And if you're nice and tell me what the whole _'folder_ _reading followed by staring match with a side dish of Buffy ignoring'_ was about, you might even get your telly back."

"Well, keep the telly for all I care," Lisa said before House could interrupt again. "Take him straight to his conference room afterwards." Lisa went for the door but, with her hand already on the handle, turned around again. "Oh, and he knows."

Buffy frowned and looked at House, who was once again looking rather smug. "Knows?"

Lisa nodded, holding up the file in her hand. "Yes. The thing Willow could have added to Jenna's visit?"

Realisation dawning, Buffy narrowed her eyes as she turned back towards House. "How long?"

"The-"

"No, I'm talking to House," Buffy said, effectively interrupting her mother. Giving her a weak yet apologetic smile, she said, "Go back to work, I'll handle it."

Lisa watched her daughter for a moment, then she nodded. "Just remember I need him alive."

"Mo-om!" Buffy whined while she winked at Lisa. She'd said it just loud enough for House to hear but quiet enough to keep it inside the room. "You're spoiling all the fun!"

In the middle of the room House could only stare at the two women in front of him. Pondering about it, even getting a maternity test done, couldn't have prepared him for actually hearing that one little word from Buffy – directed at none other than Dr Lisa Cuddy.

Mom.

Rolling her eyes, Lisa opened the door and left the room. Then again, the memory of House's flabbergasted face would stay with her for a long time.

Inside, Buffy casually walked up to House, closing his mouth with her finger. "Jeans off and up on the table."

Slowly, very slowly, the expression on House's face changed. He even took off his jeans and did as Buffy had told him. Once he'd made himself comfortable, he looked rather pleased with himself again. "So, spawn of Cuddy, get to work. I've got fellows to torture and a patient to diagnose."

Buffy snorted then got the second lollipop from her pocket. She unwrapped it slowly before she put it into her mouth.

"Hey! You just had one. Watch out or you're getting fat," House said with raised eyebrows. "And where is my lollipop anyway?"

"This _is_ yours," Buffy said casually as she started to massage the remaining muscles in his leg, slowly but surely loosening them up. "Shouldn't have poked around things that aren't of your concern."

"I didn't even tell anyone," House grumbled. "Least I could get for that is a lollipop."

"Just make sure it stays in this room." Buffy stopped massaging him and looked him straight in the eye. "This isn't a game. For neither of us."

House studied her for a moment. "Cuddy didn't know you were her daughter when you came here," he eventually stated.

"No, she didn't," Buffy agreed then went back to work on his leg.

"You're adopted."

Buffy nodded.

"Because Cuddy was too young?" House asked curiously.

Buffy's head snapped up and House thought he'd glimpsed something like anger and betrayal before Buffy quickly looked away again. "No, a small sacrifice for the greater good for all of us," she said bitterly.

House remained quiet after that, watching Buffy's hands, though he could tell her thoughts were somewhere else. As he'd done a bit of research, he knew Buffy's mom – who turned out to be her adoptive mother – had died several years ago. Nothing he had found had indicated that Buffy had been adopted. But he had also watched Buffy and Cuddy long enough to know there was no resentment between them.

So the bitterness in Buffy's voice wasn't directed at Cuddy but rather those responsible for her adoption. Yes, Cuddy had been young, very young, when she'd gotten herself pregnant. But he also knew her long enough to know it would be almost impossible to make her do something against her will. And judging by Buffy's reaction, the adoption hadn't been Cuddy's idea. He was sure she'd have found a way to juggle both motherhood and her education. Cuddy might not have ended up as Dean of Medicine as early as she had, but she wouldn't be that far behind either.

"It wasn't her choice," he finally stated.

"No."

"Bastards." The reply came so fast, it even surprised House. Then his eyes met Buffy's and both knew he meant it.

"They are dead," Buffy said casually. "Already were by the time I found out." She looked up again and straight into his eyes. "A shame, really."

House understood. He also knew - though he didn't quite understand his reasoning - that this would be one of the very few things he would keep to himself. Or rather between those who knew already. Maybe he was getting soft or something. Then again, there'd still be teasing and suggestive comments. But he'd keep it at that.

He was about to tell Buffy when he felt an odd sensation against his leg. "Hey!"

Buffy looked up and House was glad to see the earlier seriousness replaced by mirth. Even if it was directed against him. "Yeah?" she asked innocently.

There it was again. Right where Buffy's small bump was touching his leg as she leaned over him. "Your parasite kicked me! _Twice_!" he said accusingly.

"Yep," Buffy replied, grinning at him. "Told you you'd have to pay for waking him." Handing him a small towel, she added, "There you go. We're all done for today. But that also means you've got to do more exercises next time."

House narrowed his eyes at her while cleaning the remaining oil off his tight. "You're enjoying this way too much."

"Uh huh. Now hurry up, you've got a patient to diagnose."

"Spoilsport."

"Hey, I'm Cuddy's daughter, remember? Annoying you is in my genes!"

House grinned. "It works both ways, you know."

"That a challenge?"

"You bet!" House grabbed his cane and went for the door. Waggling his eyebrows, he added, "Let the games begin."

Buffy could only roll her eyes as she followed him out of the room.

--

_A/N: Thanks for reviewing!_


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

House grabbed the nearest napkin and spit the bite of bagel from his mouth into it. "What the hell was that?!"

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. "My mid-morning snack."

"That's not food! That's … that's _poison_!" House said, looking at her as if she'd just told him _General Hospital_ had been cancelled.

"Then you shouldn't have stolen it, should you?" Buffy asked as she took another bite of the remaining bagel. "Besides, it's _delicious_."

"No it's not!" House visible shuddered at the thought of what his poor taste buds just had gone through.

"What is not?" Allison asked curiously as she sat down next to Buffy. She'd never seen an expression like this on House's face before and couldn't wait for the explanation.

"First he's all with the snack stealing and then he's complaining about it," Buffy muttered, glaring darkly at House.

"Poison. You mean _poi-son_," House said again, his face still showing as much disgust as when he had his first taste of Buffy's bagel.

Allison looked from House to Buffy and back. Then she looked at the food in front of Buffy and frowned. It looked like a perfectly normal cinnamon-raisin bagel to her. Next her eyes locked onto the small jar next to Buffy's plate – and she started laughing.

"Now you broke her," House said when Allison continued laughing for more than a minute or so.

"Me?" Buffy asked with raised eyebrows. "I haven't done anything. Besides, who do you think Cuddy is going to believe if we turn up with a broken Allison in tow?"

House opened his eyes in mock-shock. "But I haven't _done_ anything!"

Buffy smiled innocently at him. "Good luck convincing your boss."

"Convincing me of what?" Lisa asked suspiciously as she stopped in front of their table. She looked at Allison who was still laughing but seemed to slowly calm down now.

"That he didn't break Allison," Buffy said.

"Because I _didn't_!" House replied.

Buffy just raised her eyebrow and pointed at her friend. "Doesn't look like that too me."

"You should've seen his face! It was hilarious!" Allison said while she brushed the tears from her face.

"I don't do hilarious faces," House grumbled, wondering when he had lost control of the situation so completely.

"Yes you do," Buffy countered, smiling sweetly at him. "Serves you right for stealing my food."

Lisa glared at House. "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing! Honestly!" House said, holding his hands up in front of him in defence. Then he pointed at Buffy. "_She's_ the evil one. _She_ tried to poison me."

"I didn't," Buffy said after she finished her bagel. "It's not my fault that you can't appreciate the rather yummy marmite-pineapple jam Dawn sent me."

Suddenly everything made sense to Lisa and she started to snicker, causing Allison to start again too. They'd both been on the receiving end of said delicacy from Dawn, though they had known what they had gotten into before they took a very tentative bite. Unlike House, who'd gotten a mouth-full of the stuff.

"Marmite-pineapple jam?" House all but shouted. "Are you trying to _kill_ me?"

"Nope."

Lisa shook her head at him, grinning. "You should know better than to steal food from a pregnant woman. You never know what kind of cravings she has at the moment."

"Yeah," Allison agreed while Buffy just smirked at him.

Huffing, House narrowed his eyes at them before he stood up. "Fine. Gang up on the cripple."

The women giggled even more.

House waggled his eyebrows as he played with his cane. "Well, I'll be off to plan my revenge."

"Good luck!" Buffy said cheerfully.

"You'll need it!" Lisa added, laughing as House glared at her in return before he left. Once he was gone, Lisa sighed, "Sorry, I need to go too. Uh, do you think you could spare some of that stuff?"

"Really?" Allison asked, scrunching up her nose. After all, she'd a taste a couple of days ago and, well, it _was_ disgusting. "I thought you didn't like it?"

"I didn't." Lisa said, shrugging her shoulders. "But it kinda grows on you."

"I know," Buffy agreed, shoving the small jar over to her mother. "Just take this one, I've got more of them at home."

"Thanks."

--

The next day, House looked around his conference room, watching his fellows as they argued over their current patient. He'd already made up his own diagnosis, which, of course, he could mention. Then again, it was so much more fun to watch them fight each other, trying to figure out whose idea was most likely the right one. Then he frowned as they, apart from Foreman that is, seemed to forget their surroundings completely in their discussions. Now _this_ wouldn't do.

House waited until he heard his own idea being mentioned. Then he got up and walked over to his whiteboard. He uncapped his pen, turned sideways and moved it to the board, ready to write. However, he stopped less then an inch away and ceased moving altogether – and watched his fellows while he waited for them to notice him. He even pulled some faces to amuse Foreman as he shook his head at his antics.

A few minutes later and Kutner finally noticed him. "Uh, guys?" he said, pointing towards the whiteboard.

"House?" Thirteen asked with an eye-roll. "What are you doing now?"

He wrote 2:47 on the board before turning fully to his fellows. "That's how long it took you to notice something was off. If you want to diagnose all your patients properly, you need to pay attention to every detail. No matter how small or insignificant it seems. And you shouldn't let anything distract you from diagnosing your patient – or you might miss that final little piece of the puzzle. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. "Good," House said. "Now, differential diagnosis of smelly guy, if you please."

"Mr Anderson," Taub pointed out.

"And that's helping his diagnosis how?" House asked. "Let's try again, what are smelly guy's symptoms?"

"Dizziness and frequent fainting spells," Thirteen started.

"Very common and, hence, boring on its own," House said but wrote it on his white-board anyway. "So, anything interesting coming with it?"

"Stinky-ness."

House smirked as he recognised the voice and wrote it on the board. "Why?"

Faith, once again wearing tight leather pants with a matching top, sauntered into the room, hips swaying seductively. "'Cause nurses get high on pestering patients. Someone smells, he's sent to the showers. Or given a sponge bath. He still smells afterwards, he's either got a lazy nurse or something's probably wrong with him."

"Want a job?" House said. Nodding towards the table with his fellows, he added, "Just pick the one you want to replace."

"Hm," Faith said, her eyes wandering from one fellow to the next. "What are they good for?"

"Kutner is for entertainment. He likes to set things on fire," House explained. "Taub knows how to cheat his way around the rules. He even has some medical knowledge. Thirteen is for excitement amongst other things – she likes to keep secrets and I like to solve them."

"What about that one?" Faith asked, pointing at Foreman.

House put on a mock-pout. "Lost puppy. Juvenile record and all. Cuddy won't allow me to fire him."

"O-oh, poor House," Faith said as she came to stand next to him, patting his back. Leaning into him, pressing her chest into his side, she added, "Want me to make it all better?"

House pulled a face, sticking out his bottom lip. Blinking repeatedly, he nodded pleadingly. "Yes please!"

Faith stood on her toes and nibbled on his ear. Then she moved slightly, obscuring the fellows' view of her mouth, whispering into his ear, "How am I doing so far?"

House moaned, squeezing her hip. Faith took this as a _'good'_ and pressed in even closer. "Billiard, tonight?"

He moaned again, shifting slightly. "Eight? Bring your cash machine so we can have some food beforehand?"

At the table, Thirteen shared a look with Foreman who rolled his eyes and shook his head. Next to him, Taub and Kutner grinned at each other like adolescent schoolboys.

Faith eventually disentangled herself from House. Facing the fellows, she adjusted her top. Then she pulled a set of keys from her small bag. Handing them to House, she said, "Nice ride you've got."

House smirked as he took the keys to his bike. "I know."

Leaning in again, Faith brushed a kiss against his lips. "See you tonight."

A moment later, she was gone. House smirked at his fellows, adjusting his jeans – though it was more for show than anything else. While he couldn't deny Faith was one sexy chick, he was surprisingly content with playing with her the way they had done just now, shocking people along the way – without actually wanting to go any further. Maybe he was getting old or something. Or maybe Faith had made it clear enough how far she'd go herself. Either way, his fellows didn't know there was nothing between them and he sure as hell wasn't going to tell them.

Still smirking, he asked, "Next symptom?"

--

Buffy looked at the now silent phone in shock. She had just received a call from Linda, Mark's only relative who had been showing an interest in him for the past few years. The call in itself wasn't that unusual as they had stayed in loose contact after Mark's funeral. No, the shock came from what Linda had told her.

The previous weekend Linda had been to a family gathering. As had Mark's parents, his brother and sister. Of course, someone had asked about the missing son, even though everyone knew he'd fallen into disgrace with his parents. But they were still shocked to hear of his death. Unfortunately, it didn't end there.

Jonathan, Mark's older brother, had given a dismissive answer to yet another question about his brother. Linda, having overheard the comment, had told Jonathan he was an idiot before walking away. Unbeknownst to Linda, Heather had been there as well and had followed Linda to ask her what was going on.

One word had let to another and Linda and Heather had realised that they seemed to be talking about two completely different persons. So they had found a quiet corner and they had started to compare notes in earnest. To both their surprise - and shock - they hadn't added up. At all.

When Heather had talked about unanswered letters, Linda had talked about letters being returned unopened. And unreturned phone calls. After that Heather had asked about Mark's death – and Linda had told her what she knew. Which, of course, lead to her mentioning Mark being engaged – and everything his fiancée's family and friends had tried to contact Mark's parents. Only to be ignored. Then Linda had told Heather how, after the funeral, she'd eventually been fed up with it and had told the secretary of Heather's parents' law firm about Mark's death.

After that last revelation, Heather had been too shocked to talk for a long time. Eventually she had asked Linda if she was still in contact with Mark's fiancée.

Which, in the end, had led to the phone conversation Buffy just had with Linda.

Heather wanted to contact her – not knowing they already had met.

--

House casually strolled through the clinic, heading in the general direction of Cuddy's office. Peeking into the anteroom, he saw the secretary typing away on her computer. Smirking, House quickly made his way passed her. "No need to announce me. I don't have an appointment, nor am I interested in getting one and, let's be honest, Cuddy doesn't expect me to have or get one either!"

Not waiting for a reply, he opened the door to Cuddy's office, entered and closed the door behind him. Standing by the door, leaning on his cane in front of him, House tilted his head and watched Cuddy ignore him. Then his eyes focused on a little jar on her desk and amusement turned into curiosity.

He quickly made his way over, picking up the offending jar as soon as he reached her desk.

Huffing, Cuddy saved the file she'd been working on and looked up at House. "House."

"Trying to save your spawn from food-poisoning?" he asked, shaking the jar with the marmite-pineapple jam.

Narrowing her eyes at him, Cuddy stood up and snatched the jar from House. "It's mine."

House grinned mischievously at her. "Cuddles, Cuddles. We've got some strange cravings lately, haven't we?"

"Huh?" Cuddy frowned as she looked a the jar a final time before putting it down. "What do you mean?"

House waggled his eyebrows, "Well, well, well. If there isn't a-"

"What?" Cuddy asked confused when House stopped mid-sentence, looking like he'd just had an unexpected epiphany. And a big one at that. "If there isn't a _what_?"

"Hm?" House blinked a couple of times when Cuddy's question finally registered in his brain, then he turned around and left for the door. He had some important thinking to do.

"House! What the hell is going on here?"

His hand already on the door handle, he threw her a grin over his shoulder. "I'm off pretending to do my clinic hours."

Cuddy groaned. There was definitely _something_ going on in his brain. She just hoped the hospital – or, more likely, _she_ – would survive whatever kind of mischief he bred in that mind of his now.

However, for once House wasn't thinking about playing one of his games but rather surprised by his own thoughts. After leaving Cuddy's office he went straight for the solitude of the roof. He leaned onto the balustrade and just looked out at the park, trying to avoid thinking for a while. Or rather preventing his thoughts from going one particular direction.

He stood there for a long time before he allowed his thoughts to carefully drift to that one topic again.

In the end, he simply accepted where his mind had been taking him in Cuddy's office before he stopped himself from completing and voicing his own thoughts.

Now he just had to figure out what to make of this new situation.

And how to handle it.

--

_A/N: Well, a sequel to that little baby of mine is becoming more and more likely. Or so Muse told me while writing this chapter. Of course, she didn't bother to ask me first – she just told me that's the way it's going to be. Bah. Muses! _


	47. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

"So, I heard Faith hooked up with House?" Allison asked.

Buffy took a long, appreciative sip of her hot chocolate before she grinned at her friend. "Yeah. Or that's what they want everyone to think, anyway."

Allison raised her eyebrows. "That's not what I've heard. Kutner and Taub had a rather loud conversation on how they basically rubbed on each other in the conference room."

"Uh huh. Trust me, its all play. And as it shocks people, it's even more fun for both of them. Faith likes House and his ways – but that she isn't sleeping with him tells me more about her relationship with Robin than she probably realises. In the end, Faith needs to work this one out for herself. And her flirting with House is her way of doing so," Buffy said, leaning back in her chair.

"But what about House?" Allison asked curiously. "Wouldn't he see it differently?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Faith told me they have an understanding."

"It's House!"

"I know. But there's _something_ going on between him and Lisa. I just can't put my finger on what exactly that _something_ is," Buffy said thoughtfully. Looking at Allison, she asked, "You know them much longer. Have you noticed any changes in their relationship?"

Allison snorted in reply. "I haven't even worked out just what their relationship is yet!"

Giggling, Buffy nodded her head. "I guess you're right."

"You could just ask your mom," Allison suggested between giggles. "Or even House!"

"Puh-lease!" Buffy scrunched up her nose in mock-horror. "I so don't need the visual House would most certainly give me!"

Laughing out loud, Allison asked, "Do you think they ever … you know?"

"Ugh! Bad, bad images." Buffy closed her eyes and covered her ears. "La, la, la, la, la. I can't hear you."

Allison tucked her feet under her and giggled at Buffy. As soon as Buffy opened one eye to look at Allison, Allison opened her mouth as if she was about to say something else. Instead of closing her eye again like Allison had expected, Buffy quickly lunged forward and pressed both her hands over Allison's mouth.

"Don't. Say. It."

Eyes twinkling with glee, Allison barely managed to nod because she was laughing so hard.

"Good," Buffy said with satisfaction, sitting back in her own corner of her couch, a smug expression on her face. "Ice-cream?"

--

House was nursing his beer, absently watching Faith flirt with every other male – and the odd female – in the bar. It looked like they'd make quite a bit of money playing billiard later on. However, unlike the other times they'd done it, he wasn't completely into it tonight.

The epiphany deciding to pay him a visit first in Cuddy's office and later on the hospital roof turned out to be harder to handle then he had thought.

Then again, he never thought he'd be in that particular situation in the first place. Early on in his life he had decided it was best this way. No chance of screwing up someone else's life.

Only now it was too late for this. Well, he hadn't screwed up. Yet. But he feared it was only a question of time. Worse, he actually _cared_ and didn't want to mess up to start with. Another thing he had promised himself would never happen … again.

Damn, his whole life was slipping out of his hands – he really must be getting soft and old! How else could he explain the number of people that had managed to pass his defences in the past few months?

Or maybe Cuddy, Wilson or, worse, both had slipped some drugs into his pain medication? Switched his Vicodin with something else? Though the shape and taste of the tablets hadn't changed. Then again, he first hadn't noticed but his Vicodin consumption was slowly but surely going down. Cuddy and Wilson would probably put it down to his regular physiotherapy sessions rather than to switching his medication, though.

House sighed deeply. It was time for some drastic measures. Most had to wait until he was back at work and he could start annoying people there, but there was one thing he could do now.

Grabbing Faith as she passed him, he pulled her onto his lap. Leaning closer, he whispered into her ear, "Can you keep a secret?"

Faith wriggled on his lap a bit, smirking as she could feel him react. "Sure. Why?"

Pushing her off his lap, he patted the seat next to him. "Because you're just as screwed up as I am?"

"Worse, actually," she said casually, waggling her eyebrows at him.

Smirking, he tilted his head in agreement.

"What about Wilson? I thought he's your best friend? And this sure sounds serious."

House snorted. "I know exactly what he'd say – and that's not going to help. Let's just say it's something only the screwed up will appreciate."

Faith pondered her answer as she watched Wilson finally getting through to the barman, ordering their next round of beer. "That something to do with Buffy?"

"Marginally?"

"Her mom? You're not going to mess with them, are you? 'Cause then I'd have to beat you up. Badly."

House kept his eyes locked on hers, then he sighed. "That's what I'm trying to avoid."

"Okay, I'm in. Let's forgo the billiard, ditch Wilson after this round and then you can tell good ol' Faith all of your problems."

House snorted but refrained from commenting as Wilson returned with their beer. Somehow he wasn't sure if he was about to get closer to solving his problems or if he was going to dig himself in even deeper.

--

Buffy was sitting on the patio of her mother's house, watching the sun slowly vanish behind the horizon, well, fence around the backyard. She had pulled her legs onto the lawn-chair and was loosely hugging them to her chest. A blanket around her shoulders was keeping the cool November air away.

Earlier in the day she had talked to Linda again. Well, she'd just asked her to tell Heather that she needed some time. She'd also asked Linda to refrain from mentioning her name – and given her a short explanation as to the why. Though she'd arranged herself with – and actually liked – her name, it was still uncommon enough to be remembered. And the last thing Buffy wanted was Heather remembering they've met before. Not before she had made up her mind, anyway.

Even though it had been a few days since that first phone call from Linda, Buffy had yet to talk to her mom about it. Or anyone else for that matter.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Lisa asked as she pushed herself off the patio door. She had been watching Buffy for a couple of minutes now and was worried that she hadn't noticed her. Something she usually did as soon as Lisa entered the same room.

"Heather wants to meet me," Buffy replied in a spur of the moment decision.

"Who?"

"Mark's sister."

"Marmine's fiancée."

"Yep," Buffy said. "That's the one."

Pulling a chair close to Buffy's, Cuddy sat down next to her daughter. "How? Why?"

Buffy played with the border of her blanket for a long time. When she finally started talking, she told Lisa everything Linda had told her. She also added her own thoughts of the situation, her uncertainty on how to handle it. Once she was finished, silence descended upon the patio again, leaving each of the two women to their own thoughts. It was the timer of the oven that finally broke the silence.

"Food?" Buffy asked hopefully just as her stomach rumbled in agreement.

Laughing, Lisa nodded and stood up. Holding out her hand, she pulled Buffy up and shooed her into the kitchen. "Yes. Lots of it." Closing the patio door behind her, Lisa added, "And Buffy, take all the time you need with your decision. Don't rush it. And if you need to talk again, you know where to find me, okay?"

Smiling, Buffy nodded. "Thanks."

--

"Giles, you can't do that!" Dawn whined, walking up and down in front of Giles' desk.

Ignoring Dawn's pacing, Giles shuffled through some papers. "And why, pray tell, can't I do this?"

"Because … just because!" Dawn grumbled.

Sighing, Giles finally put the papers down and leaned back in his chair. Taking off his glasses, he started to clean them while looking at Dawn. "And here I thought you would enjoy spending Thanksgiving with Buffy."

"I will! I mean, I do. But you can't, you can't just all come unannounced as well," Dawn said, lifting her arms to her side and letting them fall down again. "She's … there's not enough space in her apartment. Yeah. You'd have no place to sleep," she added triumphantly.

Giles put his glasses back on. "Then we shall simply book ourselves into a nearby hotel."

"They're all booked out. Yep." Dawn nodded enthusiastically, pleased with her idea. "Princeton-Plainsboro is _the_ new trendy to go to area during the Thanksgiving holidays. It's booked out _way_ in advance!"

"That is quite ridiculous."

"Nope. I just talked to Buffy yesterday and she told me _all_ about it. Honestly."

The phone chose that moment to ring and Giles threw another glance at Dawn before answering it. He kept all emotions off his face as he talked to his secretary. After he hung up again, he looked back at Dawn who was now sitting in one of the chairs opposite him.

"It must have been our lucky day, then," he said with raised eyebrows.

"Why?" Dawn asked cautiously.

"My secretary just booked our flights – and hotel rooms."

Dawn's face fell. "Oh."

Sighing, Giles interlaced his fingers and leaned forward onto his desk. "Dawn, what is going on?"

"Nothing? Really. Absolutely nothing. Nope. Everything is fine."

"That is quite obvious."

"Yup. Uh, I'll be off then. Homework, you know," Dawn said before quickly making her way to the door. She's almost reached it before Giles spoke up again.

"Dawn?"

Damn, she'd almost made it. "Yeah?" she asked innocently.

"Come back, please," Giles said, pointing at the chair Dawn had just vacated. "Have a seat."

Head hung low, she dragged her herself back and fell into the chair. "What?"

"What is going on?"

"Nothing?"

Sighing theatrically, Giles got up and walked around his desk. "Buffy isn't in any trouble, is she?"

Eyes opening comically wide, Dawn shook her head. "No! She's great, really! I mean, she's still missing Mark, obviously, but having Lisa really helps. Then there are her friends from work too. And Faith. They really get along well. Buffy's … she's starting to live again. Even be happy again. I think moving there was the best thing she could have done."

Leaning against his table, he took Dawn's hands in his. "Then what's so wrong with Willow, Xander and I coming to visit?"

Dawn sighed. That was the problem. She couldn't really find anything other than Buffy having yet to tell them about her pregnancy. Then again, she was rather surprised it hadn't come up through any of the supernatural gossip channels. Sighing again, she said, "Okay. But, just between the two of us, I'm going to tell her."

"Deal."

"Just make sure you don't dump any war stories on Lisa," Dawn warned. "It's one of those topics they've both been tip-toeing around without delving in too deep yet, you know?"

Giles nodded. "Angel?"

"Nope."

"Thank god!"

Giggling, Dawn stood up and pulled Giles into a hug. "I'll convince Buffy that it will be a great Thanksgiving."

Blushing, Giles pulled back and took off his glasses again while he went back to his chair. "You do that."

--

"Guess what?" Dawn said excitedly, getting comfortable on her bed, her phone pressed to her ear.

On the other end, Buffy groaned as she shared a look with her mom. "What have you done now?"

"Nothing. In fact, I'm about to do you a favour!"

"Giving up men for another ten years or so?" Lisa asked, eyes twinkling with mischief as they met Buffy's.

"No! That's just … that's just so wrong!" Dawn said in horror.

Giggling, Buffy said, "One can always hope."

Sulking, Dawn said, "Fine. I'm not going to tell you about Giles', Willow's and Xander's surprise visit over Thanksgiving then."

"_What_? You're kidding, right?"

Rolling her eyes, Dawn shook her head, even thought Buffy couldn't see it. "Nope." Sighing, she added quietly, "Buffy, last time they actually saw you was at Mark's funeral. They are missing you, are worried about you."

"But we talk all the time! And email! And-"

Lisa moved next to her daughter, squeezing her hands. "And they miss you."

"Buffy, you have to tell them at some point," Dawn said. "I mean it's close to a miracle the demon grapevine hasn't picked up on the news yet."

Fiddling with the hem of her top, Buffy said, "I guess."

"Wait," Lisa said. "Demon grapevine? Why would they be interested in Buffy's pregnancy?"

"Uh, hel-lo! The longest living Slayer ever, one of the _Chosen Two_, being pregnant? After having died a few times? That's as big as it gets in the demon world!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Having _died_ a few times?" Lisa all but shouted in shock. "You're kidding, right?"

"Oops?" Dawn said sheepishly. "Ah, there's some homework I forgot about! Talk to you later!"

And with a quiet click, Dawn was gone.

"Coward," Buffy mumbled darkly at the phone.

"Buffy?" Lisa asked quietly. "What did Dawn mean with that? And with the Chosen Two?"

Looking her mom in the eyes, Buffy sighed, slumping back into the couch. She had always known the time would come where she'd have to tell her mom about her death. She'd just hoped she'd have more time to get to know her. Closing her eyes, she started to tell her life story; "I was barely sixteen the first time I died. It all started with this prophecy…"

Once she started, Buffy just kept talking. She omitted certain bits, like Angel being a vampire and hence the episode with Angelus and also Faith going down the dark side as it wasn't her story to tell, but in the end she told her mom almost everything. Including her dying in order to save Dawn – and her struggle to readjust to normal live afterwards. She told her about the fall of Sunnydale and just how the new order of many Slayers came about.

And then she was silent.

--

_A/N: Is it wrong to be scared by myself? Or, rather, by Muse? The way things seem to fall into place and make sense (at least to me) when I started with only a vague idea that could hardly be called an outline and lots of unexpected things started to pop up left and right? Anyway, enough pondering (I suppose enough sleep for 4 days in a row didn't help). Like it, don't like it?_

_On a complete different note, has anyone read Hugh Laurie's book "The Gun Seller"? I bought it when, after offering my mom to explain Amazon to her so she could get a gift voucher, she reminded me she'd actually given me one for my birthday. The birthday that had been several month earlier. As in many several month earlier. Anyway, I found it (a minor miracle in itself) – and still had a month left to use it! Somehow I stumbled over Hugh Laurie's book in my immediate quest for new reading materials and thought, what the hell, why not. Today I picked up the book from the ever growing 'to read pile' and started reading. Conclusion of the first chapter – hey, there's someone else who loves long sentences. Sentences that include the main character's quirky comments and insight on almost everything happening to him. Maybe a bit over the top at times, but okay. Then I went on to the second chapter and suddenly the mixture was just right! It's almost like someone forgot to edit the first chapter as thoroughly as the rest of the book (at least in my mind). Anyway, it's a great read and if you happen to pick it up, read at least the first two chapters before deciding 'yay' or 'nay'!_


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

"What's with the brooding, Dawnster?"

"Xander!" Squealing, Dawn got off her room's wide and comfy window seat and run over to him.

Xander, who had been leaning against the doorframe, watching her brood before he had spoken up, pushed himself off, ready to engulf Dawn in a big hug. And just in time too. Because less than a second later his arms were full of Dawn.

"You're early."

"Yup." Xander pulled Dawn away from him to give her a good once-over. "Finished business early and thought I'd reward myself with a somewhat longer vacation."

Dawn raised her eyebrows as she pulled him over to her window, pushing him into the cushions before sitting down herself. "It's cold, foggy and rainy outside. That's so not holiday-like!"

"I know." Xander grinned, making Dawn feeling all warm and homey. "But I've spend the last four month travelling with different Bedouin tribes through the Sahara Desert – this is the perfect vacation spot after that! Besides, I happen to have a couple of friends in the area."

"You do?" Dawn furrowed her eyebrows. "Wonder who that might be..."

Lunging forward, Xander pulled Dawn over and started to tickle her mercilessly. "Sometimes I wonder too!"

Laughing hard, Dawn tried to get Xander to stop. But she just never seemed to have enough air to say something, anything. Evading him didn't work either, the confines of her beloved window seat not giving her enough wriggling space.

"Surrender?"

Dawn nodded, taking several deep breaths after Xander let go of her. "You win."

Grinning smugly, Xander nodded. "I know."

Falling against his side, Dawn entangled her fingers with his, resting her head on his shoulder.

After several minutes of silence, Xander asked quietly, "So what's up, Dawnster? You never stroke me as the brooding kind?"

Lifting their entangled hands up, Dawn took her time to study every single finger. "I messed up big time?"

"So? We all do from time to time. Then we go in and fix it again."

Sighing, Dawn shook her head. "Not this time. I'm _so_ stupid!"

Xander figured the best way of action would be to keep his mouth shut. So he did just that, looking out the window to pass the time.

"Hey! You're supposed to say I'm not!"

Chuckling, Xander kissed the tip of her nose as she looked at him with angry eyes. "I know, but this worked so much better. Now, what exactly did you do to mess up?"

Slapping his arm, causing Xander to chuckle again, Dawn eventually settled back against his shoulder. "Well, one moment I warn Giles not to mention any of the Big Bads we've faced to our mom and the next I tell her Buffy died several times already! How stupid is that?"

"Dawn-scale or Xander-scale?"

Dawn slapped his arm again. "I'm serious!"

Sighing, Xander squeezed her hand. "I know. So your mom – wait, your _your_ mom? She knows about the Key?"

Dawn nodded.

"And accepted you as her daughter too?"

Again, Dawn nodded. "Yes."

"And she's been trained by G-Man, for a while anyway. My guess is that deep down she already suspected bad things had happened to Buffy before. I mean, she knows enough about the life of a Slayer for that, doesn't she? You might have brought it to the surface earlier than either Buffy or your mom had wanted, but they would have had to talk about it at some point anyway."

"But-"

"No buts. Xander has spoken and Xander's word is law. Now go and bring me food, woman."

Unable to stop herself, Dawn chuckled at his antics. They've never failed – and hopefully never would fail – to make her feel better.

--

Across a big puddle of water, some simply called the Atlantic Ocean, mother and daughter were sitting on a couch, each of them lost deep in thought that couldn't be more different.

Buffy trying to figure out where she would move to next. And if she would be able to finish her qualification first.

Lisa trying to grasp the very concept of her _dead_ daughter sitting in front of her, very much _alive_ and breathing.

Buffy remembering all the little moments she had been given with her newfound mom in the short time they had together.

Lisa failing miserably in trying to feel guilty for Buffy having been brought back from death by her friends. Even though being ripped out of haven having caused Buffy so much pain and misery.

Buffy watching Lisa from under half-closed eyelids, trying to burn every little feature, perfect or not, into her memory. Fearing it was the last chance for her to do so.

Lisa watching Buffy from under half-closed eyelids, feeling unbelievable proud of everything her daughter was, of everything her daughter had achieved despite dire circumstances.

--

Not so far away, the other half of _The Chosen Two_ was having difficulties of her own. Well, not difficulties per se, but she'd just learned something rather interesting and was pondering on it.

Meanwhile, House was nursing his beer as he watched Faith's reaction to his own thoughts. "You know, a conversation usually involves two people speaking," he snarled when the silence became too depressing.

"Ah, thought I had missed something," Faith said, a small smile playing across her lips. "So, watcha gonna do about your assumption?"

"Assumption?" House snorted, taking a long, long sip of his beer. "It's a fact."

"But she doesn't know?" Faith asked curiously. House nodded. "Then how can you be sure?"

Rolling his eyes, House got up to get another beer. "I'm a genius, remember?"

Chuckling, Faith held her hands up in defeat. "Okay, then watcha gonna do with your _knowledge_? Wait till she figures it out herself? And how do you know she doesn't know in the first place?"

House shrugged his shoulders and slumped onto the couch again. "She doesn't. And I was … _distracted_ or I would have figured it out a while ago."

"Illegal maternity tests?" Faith asked casually.

"Yep," House replied just as casually. "Another beer?" he added, holding up one of the two bottles he'd just gotten from the fridge.

Having a long sip of her own beer, Faith quirked her eyebrows. "Paternity test next?"

Smirking, House shook his head, and waved that idea off. "Naw, that's for boring people. Figured we'd start with a pregnancy test first."

Eyes opening comically wide, Faith all but squealed, "WE? What do ya mean be _we_?"

House waved his hand in Faith' general direction. "You're staying with Buffy. Cuddy is over often enough. She'll have to pee at some point."

"And then what? I'll rush in after her, telling her not to mind me as I just need to check something in the john while she's peeing?"

"Just a thought." Grinning, House waggled his eyebrows. "How about those knives of yours?"

"Huh?"

"You've got at least two knives on you right now. You could accidentally nick her finger with one or something. Stop the bleeding, bring me the tissue."

"You're nuts," Faith said as she shook her head. "Besides, I'd have to go past Buffy first … and let's just say that's a _big_ no-no."

House stuck out his lower lip, pouting at Faith – who just rolled her eyes. "Jeez. Just go and tell her. Ask her to take a test. Or …"

Seeing the proverbial wheels turn in Faith' head, House sat up and leaned forward. "Or _what_?"

Frowning, Faith wondered if she should or shouldn't act on something Buffy had told her a couple of month ago. Mischief won out in the end. "Any idea how far along she is?"

"About three month," House replied quickly. Too quickly.

But Faith decided to let it go. For now. "It might work."

"What might work, oh supposedly wise one?"

Faith leaned forward as well, motioning for House to lean ever closer. When their noses were almost touching, Faith smirked. "That'd be telling. But I might be able to test your little theory…"

--

Dawn chewed on her fingernails as she watched Xander eat his third sandwich.

"What?"

"Huh?" Dawn asked as Xander's question interrupted her train of thoughts. "What _what_?"

"You look worried. It makes enjoying my little snack difficult."

"Little _snack_?" Dawn looked at him with wide eyes. "You're joking, right?"

"Uh, hello! Xander here, remember?" He replied in mock-hurt. "But seriously, you are still worried about Buffy and your mom, aren't you?"

Dawn sighed before she slowly nodded.

"Okay." Xander stuffed the last bit of the sandwich into his mouth before leaning over the table and grabbing Dawn's cell phone.

--

Gradually, the silence in the living room became more and more depressing to Buffy. Why didn't her mom say anything? Should she just get up and leave to never come back?

Lisa couldn't believe her luck. Not only was her daughter, who by any means should be dead, alive but she was also going to give her a grandchild. True, she felt a bit young for going down that particular road, but in the end that didn't really matter. In truth she couldn't wait to hold that new life in her own arms.

Buffy sighed unnoticeably as she came to her decision. It was time to leave. Only her phone wasn't quite cooperating as it started to ring just as she was ready to quietly sneak out.

"What?" she said not too friendly.

"Hey Buf. Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Huh? Xander?" Frowning, Buffy got up and walked out of the room.

"The one and only. Now don't throw away something great just 'cause you _think_ you know what your mom's thinking."

"But she hasn't said anything since I told her most stuff about my life," Buffy said, sounding defeated.

Xander sighed, rolling his eyes at Dawn. "Stop the mental self-flagellation. Now isn't the time." Then he went on to tell her what he'd told Dawn earlier. That Lisa had known about the dangers of being the Slayer for a long time. They all knew how thorough Giles liked to be, after all. And that there was no way she hadn't suspected how difficult Buffy's life must have been. True, hearing rather than just suspecting it might be hard at first, but going by what Giles and Dawn had told him about Lisa, he was sure she wouldn't run away.

"Now go and make up. I want to finish my snack," Xander finished on a much lighter note.

"Huh?" Buffy stopped her pacing and looked at the phone in confusion, even though Xander couldn't see her.

"Dawn's been staring at me for the past ten minutes, worried she'd messed up completely. It started to spoil my appetite," Xander said cheerfully, ignoring the kick Dawn gave him under the table. Sighing, he added quietly, "Buffy, trust me on this, okay?"

Closing her eyes, feeling like she was about to run into a misty wood, not knowing if she'd meet friendlies or baddies, Buffy nodded. "Okay."

"Good." Grinning at Dawn, he handed the phone back to her. "So, now where's the chocolate cake?"

--

Lisa was pacing up and down her living room. For the first time since Buffy had stopped talking she'd noticed the look of gloom on Buffy's face when her phone had started to ring – and Lisa hadn't liked it one bit. However, before she could do anything about it, Buffy had stood up and left the room. Lisa had stayed on the couch for a couple of minutes but when Buffy hadn't reappeared, she'd gotten up herself.

And had started pacing.

Now, changing direction for the umpteenth time, Lisa suddenly found herself staring at her daughter again.

"Hey," Lisa said as her worried frown quickly turned into a wide smile.

Buffy tentatively returned the smile, nervously shuffling her feet.

"Come here." Lisa opened her arms wide, walked over to Buffy and engulfed her in a big hug. After a while, she leaned back slightly look at her daughter. "Just so you know, I'm not sorry that they brought you back."

After getting comfortable on the couch again, Lisa tilted her head and asked, "What was the long face about? You know, before your cell went off?"

Buffy tugged her feet under her body and gave a lopsided smile. "Case of pregnancy stupidity?"

"Which would be?"

Blushing, Buffy looked at her fingers who decided to walk up and down her tight. "I kinda might've thought you wouldn't want we anymore?"

Lisa's eyes opened almost impossibly wide. "What! Why? That's just ridiculous." Shuffling closer to Buffy, she caught her wandering fingers and squeezed her hand. "I couldn't be prouder of having you as my daughter."

"Thanks." Buffy scrunched up her nose, looking sheepishly at her mom. "Xander might have mentioned something like that too. Told me to stop the self-flagellation and make up."

Grinning, Lisa squeezed Buffy's hand again. "I like him. He sounds like a very sensible young man to me."

Snickering, Buffy shook her head. "Only if he wants to. In this case Dawn feeling guilty of dropping that bomb on you was spoiling his appetite."

"He still knew how you'd react. That tells me he's a pretty good friend."

"I know." Buffy smiled. "Now all the food talk made me hungry too."

Later that evening, just as Buffy was ready to go home, she once became serious as she looked at her mom. "I … I want you to look after this little one if anything should happen to me. Please?"

Lisa looked up in alarm. "Buffy, nothing is going to happen to you."

But her daughter only shook her head in sadness. "Mom, I'm still a Slayer. And not just any Slayer either. Even if I'm semi-retired now, there'll always be some demon or other baddie that'll consider killing me will get them more respect or whatever. I might be the longest living Slayer ever, but that won't change that I've outlived my life expectancy already. Yes, having so many Slayers around might increase our general life expectancy, but it's still rather likely I won't see the little one graduate."

"Buffy." Lisa didn't notice the tears running down her cheeks.

"Mom, I promise I'll do my best to see my baby grow up. It's just … I'd just feel so much better to know he will be taken care off if I didn't make it."

Lisa eventually nodded. "Just don't expect me to keep a room ready _'just in case'_, okay?"

"Deal," Buffy said before yawning widely. "I'll better go before I fall asleep on the couch."

"Nuh huh. Guestroom."

"But-!"

"No buts. I might have to accept losing you because of your calling, but I'm not going to lose you because you fell asleep behind the wheel!" Lisa said sternly. "Guestroom."

Smiling sheepishly, Buffy nodded. "Jammies and a movie first?"

Groaning, Lisa got up and padded barefoot into the kitchen. "You just want more popcorn."

"Nope. But your grandchild does."

--

House strolled passed Cuddy's office for the third time that morning. Naturally, Cuddy's secretary was getting very nervous by it. House was clearly planning something – only that he wasn't.

He was simply keeping a close eye on Cuddy, seeing if he could pick up any more symptoms. He'd even gone as far as doing his own clinic hours to make his passing of her office less suspicious. He'd see a few patients, then he'd take a break in order to loosen up the muscles in his leg by walking around a bit. Or so he told the nurse on duty.

House almost missed lunch time as his latest patient didn't turn out to have the sniffles, be stupid or hypochondriac. In fact, he'd been to a couple of other free medical services but all they've managed to do was to give him the wrong diagnosis, a couple of useless pills and send him on his way.

At least that's what had happened from House's point of view. But when he put one and one together and got five, his curiosity took over. He asked a few more question and when the answers became more and more unexpected, he called Foreman and had him admit the patient and do all the initial test.

By the time he was finished and walked past Cuddy's office again, she was gone. Swearing under his breath, he entered the anteroom and stopped in front of her secretary.

"Where're you hiding Cuddy?" he loudly demanded to know.

The secretary cringed at first, but then she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Lunch," she said curtly before going back to work.

Smirking, House turned around and left for the cafeteria. Pulling his cell from his pocket, he pressed a speed-dial button, "See you in a few minutes."

--

Lisa sighed as she put her tray on the empty table. The queue had been particularly long and her patience particularly short. She'd seen House pass her office several times this morning already and it had started to grate on her nerves. Hence the early lunch. Well, that and she'd woken to a queasy stomach in the middle of the night again and, even though she'd some dry toast for breakfast, hunger had been starting to gnaw mercilessly on her insides.

She closed her eyes in pleasure as her sandwich turned out to be more delicious than she could remember from the last time she'd chosen this particular one. She devoured the rest of it before she opened her eyes again – only find herself staring at none other than Gregory House. Groaning, she closed her eyes again, hoping he was just an imagination of her mind.

Putting one hand over his heart and the back of his other hand on his forehead – after tilting his head back slightly – he whispered in mock-despair, "Now you've broken my heart."

"What heart?" she deadpanned as she opened her eyes again. Moving her empty plate aside, she grabbed her salad and started eating.

House didn't answer but played dead. He had his arms hanging loosely on either side of his body, his head drooping to one side and his eyes closed.

Snorting at the motionless and quiet House, she muttered, "Works for me." Leaning over the table, she snatched his apple pie and put it next to her salad.

"Hey!" House protested immediately, "that's theft!"

Lisa didn't even look up as she shrugged her shoulders. "I thought you were dead. Didn't want the perfectly fine cake go to waste."

House reached over to take his pie back but Lisa was quicker, slapping his fingers when they got too close. "Too late. It's mine now."

"What? Run out of puppy-food at home?"

Lisa shrugged her shoulders and looked up in surprise as she saw Faith walking towards them.

"Mind if I sit down?" Faith asked while pulling a chair over and sitting down next to Lisa.

"Are you meeting with Buffy?"

"Naw, I was just going to take House's bike for a ride," Faith said with a smirk. This wasn't part of their plan, but she figured that as House wanted something from her, she might just as well get something out of it too. And she loved riding his bike almost as much as she did riding her own.

"You are?" House asked in amusement.

"Yep." Pointing at the cakes in front of her, she added, "Figured I might just as well have a little snack beforehand."

Lisa, having just sampled House's apple pie, grinned mischievously. Pointing at the similar pie in front of Faith, she said, "This one is well worth it."

"Thief," House mumbled as he put his motorcycle keys on the table, causing Lisa's grin to widen even more. "Shouldn't have played dead."

Huffing, House moved his elbow, accidentally knocking his keys off the table. Swearing, he was about to lean under the table, when Faith put a hand on his arm. "Stop, I'll get it. You'll just use it as an excuse to peak up Lisa's skirt."

"I wouldn't!" House said in mock-shock.

Upon which Lisa just rolled her eyes and replied, "Of course you would."

Meanwhile, Faith who had gotten under the table was smirking at the banter going on above her head. Picking up the keys, she closed her eyes and leaned closer to Cuddy, concentration on her task. It took her a couple of seconds to push all the background noises to the back of her mind, but once she'd managed it, she could suddenly hear the very sound she came here to hear in the first place. Chuckling quietly, she shook her head. By the time she reappeared from under the table, her expression was neutral again.

Ignoring House's questioning look, she showed him his keys before pocketing them and went back to her own pie.

Later, after they'd left the cafeteria again, Faith was brushing House's side as she walked next to him. In the middle of the lobby, she stopped him, stood on her toes and brushed a kiss against his ear, whispering, "You're right. Cuddy's knocked up."

Not waiting for a reply, she turned and, hips swaying seductively, left the hospital – leaving a stunned House behind.

--

_A/N: I've given Muse a chapter number by which she has to finish … Now I just hope I won't end up with something like Epilogue 1-10 :P! Anyway, thanks again for reviewing – it always helps to keep Muse on track!_


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

House ignored the knocking at his front door and kept staring at his muted TV. There was some kind of documentary running, but House didn't pay any attention. The flickering pictures merely provided him with the right setting for his thought processes.

Cuddy was pregnant. He had no idea _how_ Faith had confirmed his assumptions, but he was sure she really knew. As in having run a pregnancy test. Only when he had asked her later how she'd done it, she'd just waggled her eyebrows and had smirked at him.

There was another knock and House closed his eyes in irritation as his train of thoughts was interrupted by it. That still didn't mean he was going to get up and open the door. Faith wouldn't even have bothered with the second knock; she would just have picked his lock and entered – another fact that made him like her. Wilson would eventually get his own key and open the door and Cuddy, Cuddy would start to call for him. Or, rather, yell. Hence, there was no need for him to even move off the couch.

Sure enough, only moments later he heard a key being inserted into the lock just before the door opened.

"Wilson."

"House? Why didn't you answer your door?" Wilson asked, but immediately answered his own question. "Right. Stupid question."

Snorting, House pointed towards the kitchen. "Bring me a beer, will you?"

Sighing theatrically, Wilson put his coat away before catching two beers from the kitchen. Putting one of the bottles within House's reach, he fell onto an empty armchair and took a long swig from his own beer.

House picked up his bottle – and frowned at the still closed lid. "Waiter? Closed bottle equals to no tip for you!"

"Yes, House. I shall find a dark corner and think about my inappropriate behaviour."

Opening the bottle, House smirked. "You sound annoyed. Cutthroat Bitch put you on the short leash already?"

"No."

"Ah," House nodded in understanding. "You're ready to ditch the bitch."

Forcefully putting his bottle on the table, spilling some of its contents in the process, Wilson glared at House. "No! House! Stop doing that, will you?"

House didn't even raise an eyebrow at Wilson's outburst. "And where would be the fun in that?"

Groaning, Wilson leaned back into his chair again. "Just so you know, I'm going to meet Amber later tonight."

"Ah, stop!" House all but squealed as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut and covered his ears with his hands. "Spare my poor, innocent ears the details of your scandalous sex life." Opening first one, then the other eye, he nodded towards the piano. "There are some empty papers on top, draw them instead. Don't tell anyone, but my ears are blind. But this also means they won't see your sketches – and hence keep their innocence."

"Ha ha. Very funny." Wilson rolled his eyes. "I can't stop laughing."

"So, why are you here then? Kill the time till you meet Cutthroat Bitch?" House asked.

"Skip the sarcasm. I just thought it be nice to spend some time together, doing nothing. There's always been someone else present lately."

House opened his eyes in mock-shock, "Wilson! I've … I've never thought you _felt_ this way about me!"

Snorting, Wilson shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. So, what exactly is going on between you and Faith?"

House waggled his eyebrows suggestively, but didn't say anything.

"Are you two sleeping together?"

House smirked. "That's not why you're here."

"Huh?"

"You've got that _'I have a question but don't know how to ask'_-face," House explained with a shrug. Tapping his chin with his forefinger, he tilted his head slightly as he watched his friend closely. "Buffy. It's been almost two months and she still hasn't talked to you."

Sighing, Wilson eventually nodded. "At least she's acknowledging me whenever we meet in the hospital now."

"Cuddy's still treating you like she always has," House stated matter of fact, causing Wilson to frown in confusion. "Which means Buffy will probably talk to you at some point."

"And that's going to make sense how?"

House shrugged his shoulder while there was another knock on the front door.

"Aren't you going to see who's there?" Wilson asked. House just raised his eyebrows, reminding him just how Wilson had gotten in earlier. "Right."

There was another knock that was quickly followed by someone fumbling with the lock. Looking with wide eyes between House and the door, Wilson leaned closer to his friend and whispered, "Someone's trying to break in!"

"Oh no!" House exclaimed, his hand covering his open mouth. Smirking when the quiet click of the lock told them that it had been successfully picked, House lifted his hand, waving in the general direction of the door. "Hey Faith."

Wilson looked up in shock only to find Faith grinning at him. "You just picked his locks."

Shrugging her shoulders, Faith put her motorcycle helmet away and went straight for the kitchen. "I know. Kicking it in would be so much faster … but people usually get annoyed when I do that."

"_What_?" Wilson asked alarmed. "You've kicked in doors before?"

"Sure. It's great fun." Faith sat down on the couch next to House. The two immediately clanked their bottles together before taking a long drink. "House gets special treatment 'cause he lets me ride his bike."

Wilson's phone went off before he could give a reply to that comment. Which, of course, was just as well as he hadn't really come up with anything useful yet. Switching of the alarm, Wilson stood up and took his empty bottle back to the kitchen. "Sorry, but I need to go."

"Private sex lessons with Cutthroat Bitch," House told Faith. Upon Wilson's groan, House continued casually, "Though I'd bet they'd both blush and stutter at some of the stuff you showed me."

"Yup," Faith replied just as casually, giving Wilson a very lascivious grin. Seeing the blush creeping up his face, the grin turned into a smile. "Have fun. And give me a call if you need some suggestions."

Wilson stuttered something unintelligible before throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. Collecting his coat, he said his goodbye and left.

"That was fun," House said as the door closed behind his friend. "So, how about those suggestions? Care to share? Show, even?"

"Nope," Faith said easily, brushing her finger along his jaw. "Gotta save yourself for someone else."

House rolled his eyes before pointing towards the still muted TV. "Got the movies?"

--

Frowning, Buffy looked at her mom as she brought a plate with two marmite-pineapple jam sandwiches from the kitchen. "Are you sure you aren't pregnant or something?"

Lisa stopped short, but continued a couple of seconds later. Sighing, she shook her head. "Pretty much."

Tilting her head, Buffy took one of the sandwiches and watched her mom as she bit into it. "But you wouldn't mind?"

"No, I wouldn't mind," Lisa replied, smiling wistfully before telling Buffy of her attempts of getting pregnant over a year ago. She also told her about the one time she did become pregnant – only to lose the baby early on. And how she didn't attempt it again afterwards.

"I'm sorry," Buffy said once Lisa finished her story. "Are you gonna try again?"

Lisa shook her head.

"Why not?" Buffy asked with forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"It's just …" Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "You know?"

Seeing her mom didn't really want to talk about it, Buffy let the topic drop. For now anyway. And went on to the next best thing. "So, what about your love life? Anything interesting happening?"

Grinning, Lisa pointed at Buffy. "Well, I've recently met two people I love very much."

Interest sparkling in her eyes, Buffy leaned forward, eagerly to hear more. "Spill."

"A tall-ish brunette with odd tastes and a short blonde – who's about to give me another person to love to bits," Lisa said.

Realisation dawning quickly, Buffy rolled her eyes. Then another comment hit and she started to pout. "Short? Who's short? Besides, look at yourself! It's all your fault I'm a _wee_ bit shorter than average woman!"

Giggling, Lisa leaned over and ruffled Buffy's hair, knowing just how much it annoyed her daughter. But she couldn't help herself – it simply felt right. "I think you're just right."

"My hair!" Buffy protested. Though, instead of the anticipated apology all Buffy got to hear was her mom's giggles turning into full laughter.

"You're such a girl!"

Crossing her arms in front of her, Buffy glared at Lisa. "Well, duh! I _am_ a girl."

"Chocolate?"

"Duh! Again!" Deciding that keeping up the pout was way too exhausting, Buffy relaxed back into the couch. When Lisa came back, putting chocolate chip cookies on the table, Buffy went in for the kill. Well, back to her original question, really. "Enough with the evading. Men. _Your_ men to be exact. Spill!"

Lisa closed her eyes as she filled her mouth with chocolate chip cookie goodness. She'd found the recipe on the Internet and ever since trying it out several months ago; she made sure she'd never run out of them. Even thought it meant making fresh batches every other weekend ever since Buffy came into her life.

"Hel-lo-o! Earth to Lisa!"

"What? Oh. Sorry." Lisa smiled sheepishly as she finished her cookie. "What was your question again?"

Rolling her eyes, Buffy grabbed the plate with the cookies and moved it out of Lisa's range. "Spill or no more cookies for you!"

After several attempts of retrieving the cookies failed, Lisa was the one pouting. But Buffy didn't give in. Instead, she started eating the cookies one by one.

"Alright, alright!" Lisa said as she saw her stock of cookies dwindle at an alarming rate. Buffy grinned and put the plate on the table, though she still kept it out of Lisa's range. "But there hasn't been anyone lately."

"Bo-oring."

"But it's the truth."

"Okay, what about House? What exactly _is_ going on between the two of you?" Buffy asked curiously.

Eyebrows raised incredibly high, Lisa offered a weak, "Nothing?"

"Uh huh. That won't get you anymore cookies, you know." Buffy took another cookie for herself, moaning in pleasure as she chewed it slowly.

"Buf-fy!" Lisa whined. "Okay, okay, there might have been something a long time ago. When I was still in med school."

Buffy handed a cookie to Lisa. "It's a start. But what's with all the teasing and bickering?"

"It's House, what else do you expect?"

"Mo-om."

"Okay, okay." Lisa held up her hands in surrender. "There might have been … something."

"When? How? Cookie?"

Laughing, Lisa accepted the last cookie from the plate. "Three month ago? You know, it's your fault anyway."

"Huh?"

"I'd just talked to Giles and he'd told me that he'd found you. And that you'd contact me in your own time. One day, I couldn't take the wait any longer and went out at night. Had some nice drinks but the company was boring. I think I've called House from the bar."

"Oh, goody!" Buffy rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "What happened then?"

Sighing, Lisa gave a lopsided smile. "I'm kinda drawing a blank. I just remember some bits and pieces – well, it could have gone either way."

"So you might have slept with House but can't remember it?" Buffy asked in bewilderment. Lisa nodded. "Bummer."

Snickering, Lisa agreed.

"Why didn't you ask him?"

"Because he'd have said yes in either case – and I wouldn't have heard the end of it," Lisa said with a shrug.

"True." Buffy scrunched up her nose as she stood up. "Junior demands a bathroom break, we'll talk more about House when I get back."

Buffy was gone before Lisa could protest.

--

Cliff Marmine was sitting in his office at home, frowning at his monitor, though it had nothing to do with whatever was displayed on it. In fact, the screensaver had appeared quite a while ago and Marmine hadn't done anything to change it.

Just a couple of hours earlier Heather had told him of her surprising conversation with one of her cousins during the latest family meeting. A meeting he hadn't been able to attend as he'd been at a conference at the other end of the country. Sure, he had asked her if anything interesting happened as soon as both them returned, but now, thinking about it, he remembered he had only gotten an evasive answer to his question. Of course, it hadn't bothered him too much then.

But, having learned of her conversation with the one cousin that had been in contact with Mark, he didn't know what to do anymore. It seemed like there were some big inconsistencies concerning Mark's life. Or rather, his attempts at staying in contact with his family. Worse, Heather had asked her cousin to contact Mark's fiancée.

The same fiancée he had been working with for the last several months. The pregnant fiancée. The fiancée he hadn't told Heather he already knew about.

He was in so much trouble!

Of course, he could come clean right now – only Heather would probably leave him as soon as she heard Buffy's side of the story.

But not coming clean would only mean he'd have more time to dig his own grave.

And he was pretty sure that hoping Heather would drop the matter was nothing but an exercise in futility.

Letting his head drop on his desk, he groaned. He saw only one way out right now – he'd have to talk to Summers. And she would hold all the aces.

--

"Well, that was disappointing," House said once the movie had finished. "Next one is on me."

Snorting, Faith stole the bowl of popcorn from House's lap. "You're just annoyed that they wore too much clothing."

"So what? _You_ spent a few bucks on those movies, the least _I_ can expect is lots of nudity!" House grumbled.

"You're just mad 'cause you aren't getting any," Faith replied easily.

"Look who's talking," House growled, trying to snatch the popcorn back. Slapping his hand away, Faith held up another DVD. "How about this one?"

Smirking, House waggled his eyebrows. "Nice thinking!"

"Yup." Putting DVD and popcorn to the side, Faith got her cell phone out and wriggled it in front of him. "Want me to get you some?" Not waiting for a reply, she pressed one of the speed-dial buttons. Smirking at House, she said, "Hey B, is Lisa around?"

--

Buffy just finished giving her baby a lecture about playing on mommy's bladder when her cell phone rung. Quickly drying off her hands, she answered – and grinned when she recognised Faith's voice.

"What are you up to?" she asked curiously in response to her friend's question.

"Poor House needs to get laid," Faith said. Both her and Buffy started to snicker when House immediately denied everything in the background. "So, she around?"

"Sure, just need a second to get back to her." Buffy left the bathroom and walked towards the living room. "What have you two been up to anyway?"

"This and that, the usual."

Buffy snorted. "Of- wait a second." Frowning, Buffy put the phone down but kept the connection open. Tilting her head, she listened intently. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something felt off. Slipping into the kitchen, she hid a couple of knives on her before she stepped into the living room.

"Oops! I didn't know you were expecting any visitors!" she said in her best Valley Girl imitation.

--

Faith rolled her eyes as Buffy put the phone down. Leaning over to House, she said, "Buffy's just checking with Lisa."

"You're evil. I _like_ it," House said appreciatively.

"So you wouldn't mind _another_ roll in the hay, _daddy_?"

Unfortunately for House, he'd just taking a sip from his bottle of beer and, being caught off-guard by Faith's comment, he spit it all over the couch table. Laughing out loud, Faith patted House's arms in consolation.

However, before House could react, Faith's expression changed completely. Keeping the phone at her ear, she quickly jumped up, pulling House with her as she did so. Ignoring his protests, she pulled him towards the door, leaving him barely enough time to pick up his cane on the way.

"Lisa and Buffy are being attacked. Lisa's house, you drive."

--

_A/N: Muse speaking … writing. Sorry, but I accidentally gobbled up Author – but it's so not my fault! I mean, you just don't wave chocolate in front of me without sharing. Honestly… Now I just have to figure out this typing thing (well, at a faster speed than 5 words per hour) and I'm all set for the next chapter!_


	50. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

Outside, Buffy was all Valley-Girl, but inside, inside she was furious.

How _dare_ these three thugs enter her mother's house!

Still, she kept her smile in place. "Who are they?"

Even though they were wearing balaclavas, Buffy had no problem identifying the looks they were giving her mom – and now her too. It seemed like they'd realised that there was more to get then a bit of money, jewellery and some electronics.

"Friends of the family," the one closest to her said. Giving both her and her mother a leering look, he added, "_Very_ close friends."

Buffy took a couple more steps into the room, effectively moving right between the three thugs, taking the focus off of her mom. "Strange." She tapped her chin with her finger. "Never seen a picture of you." Her eyes becoming huge, she started the smile. "Oh, oh! I know! You're _The Uglies_! _That's_ why your faces are covered!"

The thugs looked at each other, then at Buffy before each of them came one step closer to her. Which also meant they moved one step further away from her mom and that's exactly what she wanted.

"Hurry up!" another voice called out from the front door.

"Shut up!" Thug-with-a-voice said while his eyes never left Buffy. "We'll leave through the back anyway!"

"Why didn't you say so?" The forth guy called out again, closer this time and sounding rather whiny. He stepped into the room – and seemed surprised to find not one but two women in front of him. "Huh?"

"Idiot!" Thug-with-a-voice, or Leader-Thug as Buffy assumed, shouted. "Your mask!"

"Well, well, well," Thug-one said, "Looks like we've gotta silence them now."

"Yeah," Thug-two chimed in. "After a li'l bit of fun. It's not like they could tell anyone."

Buffy could see her mom becoming even paler and figured she'd better act now. Getting one of the knives from the small of her back, she carefully balanced it in her hand, before bringing her hand forward and, in one fluid motion, throwing it at I-wanna-have-some-fun-guy. He screamed as the knife not only embedded itself to the hilt into his shoulder but also threw him backwards a few steps by the sheer force it had been thrown with. He fell onto the floor, hitting his head on the corner of a small sideboard as he went down, effectively rendering himself unconscious.

The moment the knife hit Thug-two, his friend next to him went instinctively for the gun in his waistband. However, having seen the bulge before, Buffy moved quickly and kicked him where it hurt the most. Of course, that's exactly where he'd been hiding his gun and either the kick, or him curling up in pain, somehow caused the gun to go off. Screaming like a girl, he went down as well. Buffy quickly retrieved the gun and kicked it straight into the next room.

That left only Balaclava-less Thug and Leader-Thug. Picking up a book from the table next to her, Buffy threw it at Balaclava-less Thug, hoping to throw him off long enough for her to take out the leader of the gang.

Unfortunately, Leader-Thug had already recovered from the shock of seeing his accomplices being taken out so quickly and gone for his own weapon. Fortunately, it was a knife and not another gun or Buffy might have been in trouble.

"Bitch!" he cried and lunged at her.

Buffy sidestepped him, going as far as tapping her foot after he'd stopped and turned around to face her again. "Now that was rude," she said flippantly. "I mean, look at me! I'm not even dressed for this!"

Roaring with anger, Leader-Thug charged again. This time Buffy didn't sidestep him but blocked his attack and, at the same time, used his momentum to throw him to the ground. He yelped in pain as is arm popped out of its socket.

"Oops," Buffy said in mock-regret. "I'm so forgetful – I guess I shouldn't have held onto your arm." Buffy quickly took the knife from his hand – the very reason why she hadn't let go of his arm even though she was aware that he'd end up with it being dislocated – and kicked it out of his reach.

Fuelled by anger, Leader-Thug ignored the pain in his shoulder and kicked out at Buffy, hitting her mid-tight. Although he didn't do any damage, it was enough to throw Buffy off-balance for a second, giving him time to scramble back onto his feet.

"See, _now_ I'm pissed," Buffy hissed as she kicked out his feet from under him, sending him back to the floor. To prevent him from getting any more funny ideas, she stepped onto his throat and applying enough pressure to make breathing very hard for him. Leader-thug grabbed her foot, trying to pry it off his throat. When this didn't work, he pulled up his legs, ready to kick out at Buffy again – only to find the pressure on his throat increased even more. "Nu huh. You wanna breath, you better stop moving."

Meanwhile, at the other side of the room, Lisa had finally come out of shock when the forth thug started to recover from being hit by the thrown book. Seeing that Buffy was more than busy with the leader, mother instinct kicked in and she attacked him. Out of nowhere, all the lesson Giles had given her over twenty years ago came back and she managed to held her own against him. She barely registered the knife in his hand as she concentrated on neutralising the threat he posed to her daughter. So, just like Giles had taught her, she blocked his attacks, waiting for an opportunity to strike herself.

They danced around for a couple of minutes until Lisa managed to get hold of a weapon of her own. Well, it was a rather pricey vase, but as it was thin and long, Lisa could easily hold it one hand and use it to block further blows. Only a moment later, the thug was nice enough to present her an opening and Lisa moved into his personal space, hitting the vase against the side of his head. Apparently the vase had been made of stronger stuff than the thug's head, as it stayed intact while the thug hit the floor, unconscious.

Breathing hard, Lisa looked up and locked eyes with Buffy. Raising an eyebrow, Buffy tilted her head, "Nice hit."

Laughing out loud edgily, Lisa quickly put the vase down again. But now, with nothing to hold onto, her hands started to shake badly and Buffy quickly continued, "Okay. Got some strong tape? So we can bind them?"

Nodding, grateful for having something else to do that would prevent her from having to think anytime soon, Lisa went to the kitchen to get the requested item.

As soon as she was back, Buffy ordered the Leader-Thug to hold up his arms. A little additional pressure on his throat later, and his hands were securely bound together. Only then did Buffy ask her mom to bind his ankles too. Once he was taken care off, Buffy proceeded to bind his friends. Two were still unconscious and the third one, the guy that had shot himself, was still doubled up in pain, whimpering like a baby. Although he was obviously in pain, Buffy wasn't going to take any chances and bound him too.

Then she looked at her mom. Lisa was white as a sheet and Buffy feared she would faint any moment now. Taking her by the arm, Buffy led her to the couch, telling her to lie down. Of course, the moment Lisa sat down she came in close contact with Buffy's belly. Shaking her daughter's hands off, Lisa struggled to get up again. "No, no. You lie down. The baby!"

"Is fine," Buffy said gently. Well, he was moving and his heart was beating as usual.

"Please?"

Seeing the distress in Lisa's eyes, Buffy nodded. "As long as you sit down too."

Having no strength left to resist, Lisa complied and plopped down on the spot – barely missing the now empty cookie plate still sitting on the couch table. Still worried about her colouring, Buffy unceremoniously pushed Lisa's head between her knees. "Don't move."

"It's not necessary," Lisa said weakly, although she could already feel the dizziness slowly fading.

"Uh huh. Keep it down – or I can't lie down 'cause I need to keep your head in place," Buffy said as she experimentally let go of her mom's head.

"Fine," Lisa grumbled.

Sighing, Buffy squeezed Lisa's shoulder before lying down herself. She's just picked up a noise from outside and wasn't surprised to hear the door open. Or to see Faith rushing in, though she didn't expect to hear the telltale noise of House's cane only seconds later.

Faith scanned the room and nodded appreciatively at Buffy. "Nice job, B."

House came in only seconds later, mimicking Faith's earlier scanning of the room. Sharing a grim look with Faith, he then took a closer look at mother and daughter. "Having a party without me? I'm disappointed."

Snorting, Buffy turned onto her side so she could look at him without having to twist her neck. "And what? Cane-Fu House coming out to play?"

Chuckling, House pointed his cane at Buffy. "Cane-Fu _Master_ House, if you don't mind."

"Police is on the way, paramedics too," Faith said as she closed her cell phone. Pointing at the writhing and whimpering guy in the corner, she asked, "What's up with him?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Kicked him in a soft spot."

"Nice," House and Faith said simultaneously.

"Yup." Grinning, Buffy added, "Had a gun in his waistband. Went off as I kicked him. Not sure where or if it hit, but I figure as long as he's whimpering he's not dying."

"Knife in shoulder guy and balaclava-less guy are unconscious but breathing okay. Dislocated shoulder guy seems a bit unhappy, though," Faith added with a shrug. "Want me to throw them next door?"

Buffy shook her head. "Wait for the police."

"Damn. You're no fun," Faith pouted. "Can't I play a little? A teeny tiny little bit? _Please_?"

Buffy just raised her eyebrows and Faith left to glare some more at dislocated shoulder guy.

Lisa, feeling a bit better, lifted her head to look at what was going on.

"Ah!" Buffy said almost immediately.

"But-"

"Still dizzy?" Buffy asked pointedly. "And I know when you're lying."

"Maybe. A little bit," Lisa grumbled darkly but kept her head between her knees.

Grinning at House, she waggled her eyebrows at him. "Of course, if House says it's okay to move…"

Lisa muttered something unintelligible, causing House and Buffy to grin at each other. The next moment, the living room was filled with police officers. Ignoring Buffy's protests, Lisa stood up and flopped into an armchair, barely protesting when House lifted her feet onto the couch table in front of her.

Keeping a close eye on the two women, House went to talk with the police officers. Or, rather, kept them away from Lisa and Buffy. Eventually, they agreed to wait for the two women's statements until after they'd been checked out in the hospital. After all, the situation was quite obvious and with Faith telling them what she had overheard on the phone and what Buffy had told them after they had arrived, there was no doubt on who was the criminal.

While Faith watched the criminals being tended to by paramedics before the police took them away, House snatched a stethoscope, blood pressure monitor and first aid kit from the paramedics and went back to Buffy and Lisa.

Buffy, who was watching her mom in concern, pointed to her side and then at Lisa as soon as her eyes met House's. Frowning, House moved towards Buffy but she waved him away, mouthing she was fine and that there was a bit of blood on Lisa's side. Eyes opening wide in alarm, House quickly went over to Lisa, who was still slumped in the armchair, eyes closed tightly.

Spotting the blood Buffy had spoken about, he unceremoniously moved her left arm away and lifted her top before she even managed to open her eyes. "House," she said weakly.

"Shut up. You're bleeding," he said as he carefully probed the cut. Seeing whatever colour had returned to her face leave again, he quickly ordered, "Stop fainting! It's not too bad. Would benefit from a couple of stitches, though."

"I'm not fainting," Lisa said with a pout, secretly glad about this particular tone of his as it did its usual job of raising her blood pressure. Lisa grabbed his hands, trying to move them away and have a look for herself. House, however, wouldn't have anything of it and growled at her to keep her hands away.

Once he'd put a provisional bandage on the wound, he checked her blood pressure. "Still too low," he mumbled to himself. Then, really looking at Lisa's face for the first time that night, he took his time to study her. "Do you hurt anywhere else?" he asked rather gruffly.

Huffing, Lisa crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. "No. Now leave me alone."

Smirking as even more colour returned to Lisa's face, he nodded. "Don't move."

Before Lisa could protest, Buffy added, "Or I'll have to pin you down."

"Buffy!" Lisa realised in shock that House had wasted all this time with her while her pregnant daughter was lying on the couch!

"I'm fine," Buffy was quick to reassure her mom. "Honestly."

"We'll see," House said as he moved from Lisa over to Buffy. Ignoring her glare, he quickly checked her blood pressure. "That's good."

"Told you so," Buffy muttered, crossing her arms in front her chest in a similar gesture her mom had used only moments ago.

"Any problems? Discomfort? Pain?" House asked. Smirking, he added, "And I know when you're lying."

Stroking her belly, Buffy shook her head. "I'm fine."

"But-" House prompted.

Sighing, Buffy looked at her belly. "He isn't too impressed with being awoken so rudely. He was napping before they broke in and now he seems to be training for his first marathon or something…"

"And?" House asked rather gently.

"It feels …different. I think he moved around," Buffy said with a frown on her face. Only the fact that his heartbeat hadn't changed kept her from worrying too much.

Pushing Buffy's hands away, he lifted her top to bare her belly. Before she could protest, he'd already put his hands on it and carefully probed it for anything out of order.

"It's not like we're having an audience or something," Buffy muttered as she glared at him.

Glaring right back, House deadpanned, "I'll forgo the moaning part, then."

Grumbling, Buffy refrained from commenting and closed her eyes to listen to her baby instead. She sighed as the baby finally calmed down a bit – only to realise it was probably reacting the probing of House's hands.

Smirking at the display of emotions on Buffy's face, House said, "Looks like your spawn figured out where he's supposed to be."

"Huh?" Buffy opened her eyes – and ended up looking right into House's amused eyes.

Nodding towards her belly, he sounded very pleased when he said, "The spawn did indeed move – and you're getting fat at last."

--

_A/N: Like it, don't like it? Oh, and Muse stole Cane-Fu House from a review :P!  
_


	51. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

Faith snickered as she looked down at Buffy. "He's right, B."

"I am _not_ fat." Growling, Buffy looked from House to Faith. Then she looked at her mom. "Tell them, mom."

House stood up and moved aside helpfully so Lisa could have a look at Buffy. Seeing her eyes opening wide upon falling on Buffy's belly, House waggled his eyebrows at her. "Yes mom. Tell them!" he said, mimicking Buffy's tone.

Lisa squinted her eyes at House.

"Mom?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"Uh," Lisa said as she met her daughter's eyes. Blushing slightly, she continued, "Your belly looks perfectly fine. Definitely not too big for your stage of pregnancy."

House leaned closer to Faith and stage-whispered, "I think that's called tact."

Buffy slapped his good leg, she couldn't reach his arm as she was still lying down, and glared at him.

"Ow!"

"Serves you right," Lisa said unsympathetically.

Faith just held her hands up and shook her head as House looked for support from her side.

"Coward," House grumbled.

"Naw." Faith smirked at House. "Anyway, police and paramedics are about to take the baddies away. They've started to do their CSI-mojo to the front door and will probably come in here soon-ish. And there's a nervous paramedic kid watching us from the doorway."

House looked in the direction Faith had just indicated and, sure enough, the paramedic he'd relieved of his kit earlier was eyeing him nervously. House raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Faith. "How'd you know? He's behind your back!"

She motioned him closer with her index finger. Once their faces were almost touching, she said, "Because."

"Because? Because what?" House spluttered. "That's not an answer."

"Sure is." Ignoring House's further protests, Faith leaned over the backrest of the couch and put a hand on Buffy's belly. She closed her eyes for a moment and smiled when she heard the baby's heartbeat. Still smiling, she looked at Buffy. "I called the lawyer-guys. They'll handle the police and everything. I also gave the head-honcho over there the contact details for them."

"Thanks," Buffy said as she put her hand over Faith's on her belly. "He's fine."

"I know," Faith replied, squeezing Buffy's hand before getting up again. "What now?"

"Hospital," House said quickly.

"No!" both mother and daughter protested immediately.

House frowned and tilted his head. Then he looked at Faith. "Have you just heard anything?"

"Nope."

"Thought so," House said, sounding rather pleased. Rubbing his hands together in glee, he called out to the paramedic who was still hovering at the entrance. "Hey, you! Found some of your stuff!"

Walking over to Lisa, he held out his hand. "Your car if you reach it without fainting. Otherwise I'll have the paramedics pick you up off the floor and you'll get your very own ambulance."

Scowling, she said, "You're _so_ generous."

Ignoring the sarcasm, House threw his head back and put the back of his hand against his forehead. "I know. It's not easy being so selfless."

Snorting, Cuddy shook her head – carefully – and took the offered hand. Of course, the room started to spin around her as soon as she was standing on her own feet. She bit her bottom lip to keep from fainting and didn't need much prompting to lean against House's chest. "Breathe."

A couple of deep breaths later, and the room stopped moving. Taking another deep breath, she looked up at House. "Thanks."

Nodding curtly, he put his arm around her back and slowly led her to the door, following Faith and Buffy who'd already left.

--

"Car park is over there," Buffy pointed out.

"I know," Faith said, ignoring the entrance and went straight to the emergency room, ignoring Buffy's further protests.

Buffy's door opened as soon as Faith stopped. "Buffy, are you alright?" Allison asked as she leaned over and released the safety belt.

"I'm fine."

"House said you were attacked," Allison continued as she helped Buffy out of the car. "Here, sit down."

Eyes opening comically wide, Buffy looked from Allison to the wheelchair and back. She even looked over her shoulder to ask Faith to help her out, she knew her baby was fine after all, but Faith had already moved the car away. Huffing, she turned back to Allison, crossing her arms in front of her. "I'm so not sitting in that thing."

"Yes you are," Allison said sternly. "You might be in shock and-"

"-And House would have put me in an ambulance straight away," Buffy grumbled.

Sighing, Allison had to agree. "Okay. But this is my ER. My ER, my rules. Sit down."

"Fine."

Allison moved her to a bed in as quiet a corner as she could find in the ER and pulled the curtains around it. They were still fighting over the hospital gown when Faith entered the small cubicle. When the argument stopped, Faith settled on the foot of the bed and grinned. "Don't stop on my account. I'm always looking for a good show."

Faith chuckled at the almost identical glares she received from them. However, before she could comment, the curtain moved aside once again. "Dr Cameron?"

"Ah. Dr Morales! Thanks for coming so quickly." Allison smiled at the older woman and extended her hand in greeting. Gesturing to Buffy who was lying on the bed, scowling at everyone around her, Allison said, "Buffy's been in a bit of a squabble earlier and I'd feel much better if you could check her and the baby out."

"I'm fine," Buffy muttered again.

"Want me to stick a post-it note on your forehead?" Faith asked, eyes twinkling mischievously. "No need to repeat it all the time."

Huffing, Buffy kicked out at Faith who simply caught Buffy's foot and put it back down onto the bed, patting it patronisingly.

Tilting her head, Dr Morales looked for any sign of discomfort from Buffy. Though she had to admit that her patient seemed more annoyed than anything. But, having worked with Allison Cameron before, she knew she wouldn't have been called without a reason. "Define 'squabble'."

"It was nothing," Buffy said immediately. "Sorry for wasting your time."

"I wouldn't call fighting off a couple of burglars nothing!" Allison protested immediately.

Dr Morales lifted her eyebrows in surprise. The young woman on the bed didn't exactly look like the type to fight off anything.

Shrugging her shoulders, Buffy said, "I've been doing martial arts for years. And they made it easy."

Dr Morales shook her head in disbelieve – Buffy's reply sounded a bit too casual for her liking. "How far along are you?"

"23 weeks," Buffy grumbled.

"Who's your attending ob-gyn?"

Buffy mumbled something unintelligible, causing both Allison and Dr Morales to look at her in alarm.

"But I've seen the ultrasound pictures!"

Looking up, Buffy shrugged her shoulders again. "House has been keeping track of everything."

"House?" Dr Morales asked in disbelieve. "Dr Gregory House?"

"Yup." Buffy lifted her chin in defiance. "I don't like doctors, he doesn't like patients. It works great for both of us."

"Buffy has been House's physiotherapist for the past three months or so," Allison explained to Dr Morales, her voice laced with more than a bit of admiration as House never had a physiotherapist before. Not for any period worth mentioning, anyway.

"O-okay." Shaking her head again, Dr Morales lifted Buffy's top and, when she didn't resist, placed her hands on her belly. "Any discomfort? Pain? Does anything feel different?"

Buffy shook her head. Rolling her eyes, Faith motioned to the belly, "It kinda got bigger."

"Well, duh! I'm pregnant!" Buffy said with a pout.

Chuckling, Faith added, "Bigger compared to this morning. House said it's because the kid moved forward or something."

Nodding, Dr Morales closed her eyes as she felt around Buffy's belly, prodding and probing her way around. "Did you feel him move?"

Buffy nodded. "He wasn't a happy camper. But he calmed down a bit when I lay down afterwards. He's okay, right?"

Giving Buffy a reassuring smile, Dr Morales nodded. "I can't find anything wrong. He's still moving."

"I know." Breathing a sigh of relief, Buffy started to push herself up. "So I can leave, right?"

"Wrong," Dr Morales said with a chuckle. "We'll do an ultrasound, measure the heart rate – the full works."

"You're not getting any blood!" Buffy said in alarm.

"Yes I am. And you're going to pee in a cup too."

Pouting, Buffy slumped back on the bed. "Meanie." Looking hopefully at Faith, she asked, "Throw her out?"

"Nope. I wanna see the little bugger myself."

"You've seen him two weeks ago," Buffy grumbled.

"Guess there's something wrong with my memory, then," Faith said with a shrug. In contrast to her words though, she squeezed Buffy's foot reassuringly before getting up and moving to the top of the bed, resting her hand on Buffy's shoulder.

Huffing some more, Buffy glared from Allison to Dr Morales and back. "But I'm still not wearing this stupid hospital gown."

"That's fine with me," Dr Morales said immediately, effectively taking the wind out of her sails. "Now don't move while I get the machine."

The ER was relative quiet, so Allison was able to stick around as Dr Morales had a closer look at the baby. She gave Buffy a big grin as soon as the sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the small cubicle. "That sounds good."

Dr Morales nodded while she moved the wand around Buffy's tummy. She frowned slightly but continued on her path. Then she took a closer look at the monitor and frowned some more.

Having watched the baby in awe, Buffy didn't notice the continued frowning at first. But then she saw something from the corner of her eyes and her eyes opened in alarm. "What's with the frowning?"

Faith squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and reached for Buffy's hand. Gripping onto it tightly, Buffy looked anxiously at Dr Morales.

Looking up, Dr Morales smiled sheepishly at Buffy. "Sorry, there's nothing wrong with your baby. I promise."

"You've got gas, then?"

Faith snorted as Dr Morales looked at Buffy in complete bewilderment. "_What_?"

"Well, there's got to be a reason for all the frowning. And if the baby is fine …," Buffy said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Shaking her head, Dr Morales said, "I think I can see why Dr House likes you. And, to answer your question, I also think Dr House might have been wrong."

"Wrong? Really? How?"

"Kid doubled up with a twin?" Faith asked curiously, causing Buffy to groan.

Smiling openly, Dr Morales shook her head. "No. But I think you're closer to 25 weeks along. How did House come to the conclusion of when your due date is?"

"Looking at an ultrasound almost three months ago after he told me I had a parasite."

Raising her eyebrows, Dr Morales asked, "What about your last period? Didn't he ask you about that?"

Buffy snorted. "Sure he did. Told him they were irregular and the last one was merely a month ago – and he was way too pleased to inform me that's not too uncommon in early pregnancy."

"That sounds like him," Allison said with a smile. "Especially the parasite comment."

"Alright. Tell him about the dates, okay? And if you want me to have another look at a later point, just give me a call. Now, do you know the gender of your baby?"

Grinning, Faith said, "The kid likes to show House his backside."

"Yeah," Buffy said smugly. "He turns just before House can take a peek."

Laughing out loud, Dr Morales pointed at the screen. "Do you want to know?"

Buffy bit her lip nervously, and then she nodded her head.

--

"If you faint, I'll pull over and call an ambulance," House said as he watched Cuddy becoming paler again.

She shook her head and, closing her eyes, took several deep breaths.

House gave her another glance. Realising what was going on, he quickly pulled over and released her seatbelt. She barely managed to open her door before she was sick onto the pavement.

Cursing, House opened the glove compartment and got a box of tissue, handing several of the tissues to Cuddy.

Groaning when the heaving finally stopped, Lisa slumped back into her seat, eyes closed. House opened the bottle of water he'd found in the glove compartment and pressed it slightly against her hand. "Water?"

Grabbing the bottle, Lisa nodded gratefully. Once she'd rinsed her mouth House closed the bottle again, buckled her in and continued the drive to the hospital.

Lisa kept her eyes closed until House switched the motor off. "You can't stop here!"

Ignoring her protests, House went around the car and opened the passenger door. "Sure can. I know the boss and we are like this," House said conspiratorially while holding up his crossed fore- and middle finger.

"House."

"Come on, it's late and nobody will use this entrance until morning." Jiggling Lisa's keys in front of her, he added, "Apart from us, of course."

As she had to use all her energy to keep herself from being sick or worse, fainting, Lisa sighed but didn't protest any further. Taking the offered hand, she let House drag her through the dark clinic and into an examination room. She almost sighed in relief when House told her to lie down.

"Do you think Buffy's alright?"

Rolling his eyes, House punched a few buttons on his cell phone. "Cameron, how's the spawn?"

Lisa watched him anxiously but relaxed when she saw him grin. Even if it was one of his _'Nice!'_-grins – which never meant anything good for the person at the receiving end of the grin.

"Faith is pinning her down."

Lisa sat up with a start – only to have her head spinning again. "What!"

Rolling his eyes, House pushed her back down. "Relax. Buffy and the spawn are fine. Cameron called Dr Morales from upstairs and she wants more tests – Buffy doesn't."

"But-"

"She's fine. Do you really think Cameron would sound amused if something were wrong?"

Lisa looked at him in hope. "Really?"

House nodded and, sitting down, rolled himself over to the examination table. He pushed her top back up and removed the bandage from her side. "Definitely stitches. It started bleeding again as you parked your last meal on the pavement."

"Fine," Lisa grumbelt. She closed her eyes to wait for the inevitable.

House, of course, had other plans. He got up to get the ultrasound machine from the corner and had it switched on and cold gel on her stomach before she realised what exactly was going on.

"House?"

"Shh. I'm trying to figure out the best position for the stitches," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "Don't tell the boss, she'll think it's a waste of money."

Lisa tried to sit up to get a closer look at the screen but House pushed her back down. "Ah ah! That's cheating!"

Ignoring her protests, he continued to scan her tummy, stopping now and then to have a closer look at the screen. The same screen that was turned away from Lisa so that she had no idea what the hell was going on. So she lay back, becoming more irritated by the minute. And House giving her a knowing grin didn't help either.

Finally he put the wand away and cleaned the gel off her tummy. He pressed a button on the machine before he waggled his eyebrows at her. "Ten bucks says your blood pressure is back to normal."

"Great," she said drolly. "He does an ultrasound to increase my blood pressure."

"What? It worked, didn't it?" House said innocently. Rolling himself over to the medical supply drawers, he got everything he'd need to stitch her up. Holding up the local anaesthetic, he smirked as she scrunched up her nose and closed her eyes just before House stuck the needle in.

"Ow!"

"Wimp," House deadpanned. After putting the empty syringe away, he leaned over to rip off the picture he'd printed earlier from the ultrasound machine. "Here. Play a round of spot-the-blob."

Lisa looked in astonishment from the picture to House and back. _Spot-the-blob_? What was he playing on now? Sighing as he suddenly seemed to be very engrossed in putting stitches into her side, she held up the ultrasound picture to have a closer look.

Even though he looked very devoted to the stitching he was currently doing, House watched every single movement Cuddy made from the corner of his eyes.

He knew exactly when realisation started to dawn. He'd just put the second stitch in when her eyes became as big as saucers. Then she started blinking and her mouth opened in shock but no sound came out. She looked from the picture to her tummy and back. Several times.

House couldn't help but roll his eyes at the cliché-ness of her reaction. By the time he'd put the last stitch in and covered the wound by a bandaged, Lisa was still looking at the small picture in shock – though her eyes were now filled with tears as well.

Finally, she put her hands on her tummy and looked up to meet House's eyes.

"I'm pregnant? _How_?"

--

_A/N: Uhm … has anyone seen Author? She's gone! I swear, I haven't eaten her again! … Wait. There's a note:_

"I'm (almost) off counting raindrops on the Isle of Skye. No laptop. No internet. No update. Back in two weeks. Maybe."

_Argh! She's running away! Leaving me all by myself! … Oh, there's something else on the back:_

"Note to Muse: I'll keep an eye out for that very hot, male Muse you've been asking for!"

_Whee! Sorry folks. Author is busy. And I'm totally on her side. Poor thing needs a break. Yup. _


	52. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

"Well-" House drawled out in glee.

Slapping his arm, Lisa scowled at him. "Not how. But _how_?"

Ignoring House's chuckles, Lisa squinted her eyes as she tried to remember. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember having sex at the time of conception. And she sure as hell didn't have any more IVF treatments. This left only the _one_ occasion she'd told Buffy about earlier this evening. Which also meant…

Groaning, Lisa closed her eyes. If only she could _remember_. At least then she could be sure.

But … opening one eye, she gave House, who was still looking far too smug, a calculating look. Opening the other one, she started to scrutinise the ultrasound picture in earnest.

"And twins too," Lisa suddenly said in astonishment.

"_What_?" House squealed almost immediately. Coughing to cover-up his girlish squeak, House snatched the picture from Lisa's hand and had another close look. His frown deepened even more before he finally looked back at Lisa. "There's only one."

"I know," Lisa said, waggling her eyebrows.

"You!" House shook his finger at her. "You … damn, that was good."

"Yeah." Lisa rubbed her tummy while sporting a rather smug expression. At least she now knew how she ended up pregnant. Even if the details – all the details – were still missing from her memory. And then the smugness was replaced by uncertainty. Biting her lips, she looked away from House. "How long have you known?"

House looked at his watch pointedly. "About ten minutes."

"House."

He just looked at her. Of course, with Lisa still not meeting his eyes, she didn't really know what was going on.

In the end she had no choice but to actually look up – only to find her own feelings written all over House's face. "It's yours."

"How do you know?" he snapped. "You can't even remember! You could have gone off with anyone for some fun in the back alley!"

Lisa shook her head. "No. Not with you there." House snorted as he put the ultrasound away again. "No, House," Lisa continued in exasperation. "You'd have barked and snarked if I'd shown any intentions of leaving without you."

"I'm not that nice."

"No, you're not." Lisa nodded in agreement. "But you're overly possessive. You've followed me on my dates before, for crying out loud!"

"Because your dates were idiots!"

"As were those lawyers in the bar!" Lisa shot back. Taking a deep breath, Lisa grabbed his wrist. "House. I might not remember everything, but there's only one possible father for my baby."

Grunting, House tried to free his hand from Lisa's grip but she only held onto it tighter. "House," she said gently. "We'll work it out."

"Why?" he said. "You wanted a parasite. Now you've got one. Congrats."

Sighing, Lisa closed her eyes. "I'm too tired, too emotional for this now. But we'll work something out. One way or another."

House was ready to snark back when he noticed just how tired Lisa really looked. And how that bothered him. He squeezed her hand once even if it was barely noticeable. As her eyes opened again and locked onto his, he gave a curt nod in understanding. Then he gave a half-smirk. "Call me when you actually remember the _how_."

Smiling weakly, Lisa nodded. "Okay."

--

The following Monday, House was standing on the hospital roof, his cane leaning against the banister next to him, and stared unseeingly in the distance. Apparently, assuming – and somehow knowing he was right – was one thing while actually having the proof was completely different. He'd thought he had everything worked out already. But seeing the ultrasound of Cuddy's, of _his_, baby had changed everything once again.

Before Saturday night, he'd figured he'd see their spawn on the odd weekend and even use him as an excuse to annoy Cuddy during the week.

But seeing the little parasite on the ultrasound had moved him more than he'd ever thought possible. This didn't mean he was head over heals in love with him now. No, it was more like it felt wrong to treat him like he would treat any random person. House suddenly had the urge to _not_ screw this up. The problem was that he hadn't quite figured out what that would involve.

Should he leave the kid alone? But that would also mean restricted access to Cuddy and that … that was just _wrong_. How was he going to stay sane if he couldn't play Cuddy? More importantly, would he even be able to leave her alone?

Snorting, he shook his head in answer to his own question. Limiting his contact with Cuddy just so he wouldn't screw up Cuddy's kid's life would never work. If anything, it would make all three of them miserable.

No, he had to find another way – without losing his own way.

Or his reputation.

--

"Miss Summers, can I have a word, please?"

Buffy groaned silently as she recognised Dr Marmine's voice. She really wasn't in the mood for him now. Or ever. Unfortunately, she wasn't alone right now and Kamil had heard their supervisor too. So she only had one choice, really. Turning around, she gave Dr Marmine a curt nod and went into his office as he held the door open for her.

"Have a seat, please."

She didn't want to. But, Slayer or not, her pregnant body very much liked the idea of having a seat. So she sat down.

"I … ah." Dr Marmine looked at his hands nervously. Buffy raised one eyebrow but didn't offer any help. "I, well, I assume you know who Heather, my fiancée, is?"

Buffy only gave the faintest sign of acknowledgement. So that's where this was going. The day just got better and better. Not.

"I, ah, she told me she contacted you through one of her cousins."

Again, Buffy only gave a small nod and didn't offer anything else.

"It's just that she's really nervous about it. She's … the things her cousin told her about her brother and what she thought had happened just don't match up and it really bothers her."

"So?" Buffy asked brusquely.

"I…" Dr Marmine sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "She doesn't know anything about you. I haven't told her."

"Then why did you hire me?" Buffy tilted her head while her voice was laced with the faintest sign of curiosity.

"For Heather," he said simply.

Recognising the honesty in his voice, Buffy nodded. "Why?"

Marmine continued to knead his hands while he contemplated on how to best answer the question. In the end he decided to stick to the truth. "She often spoke of her little brother, never quite understanding why he had stopped all contact with his family. Then you came for your job interview and your boyfriend seemed somehow familiar. It took me a few days to figure it out – he might have been older, but he was undoubtedly the lost brother Heather had shown me pictures off. I figured he'd move back to the States as well if you were offered a job. I could have arranged an accidental meeting between Heather and Mark and, well, she'd be happy to have another chance with him."

Buffy stared at him, her eyes filled with anger. "And be forever grateful to you for bringing him back?"

He smiled lopsidedly before looking down at his hands. "I guess there was a lot of egoism involved as well."

"You think?" Buffy wasn't impressed. At all.

"I might be a bastard – but I really love Heather. I just hate to see her unhappy. And Mark, well, he was a sore spot." Marmine rubbed his face tiredly. "Look, for all it's worth, the decision to offer you a place in the program was an unanimous one."

Buffy snorted. "Great. I presume that's supposed to make me feel all fuzzy inside now, huh?"

Marmine took a sip from his water bottle, taking his time to put it back down again. "I know I'm not in a position to make a request, but all I'm asking you is not to judge Heather by _my_ actions."

Buffy lifted her chin slightly, raising her left eyebrow questioningly.

Swearing under his breath, Marmine pushed himself out of his chair and started pacing between his desk and the chair Buffy was sitting in. If it weren't for Heather, he would never have started this whole exercise in humility. He hated every second of it. "Look, Heather is the sweetest and most honest person I've ever met. What she sees in me – I don't know. But I'm not going to question her feelings. However, her parents and older brother are neither sweet nor innocent. I guess you'd say they're my kind of people.

"Maybe that's why I wasn't too surprised to hear that Mark's and Heather's stories didn't add up. Heather told me the rest of the family had given Mark a hard time for staying in Italy, especially as he did something below their expectations. I mean, once their parents had told her they would disown him, but Heather didn't quite believe them. The thing is, I did and still do. And I'm pretty sure that they had meant it when they said they didn't want any more contact with him."

Buffy's eyes opened wide as the implications of the last statement hit home. "So you think they've never shown any of his letters to Heather? And because Heather still lived at home when Mark left, all his letters went there."

Marmine shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't put it beyond them."

Buffy slowly nodded. It would also explain why they never reached Mark's parents to tell them about his death. Or, rather, why they never got past the secretary at their law firm or past the housemaid at their home. And it would also fit with Mark's own accounts of his parents – and his siblings.

Closing her eyes, she brought Mark's beloved face in front of her inner eye, asking him what she should do now. Sighing, she looked back at Marmine. "I'll have to think about it and I'll contact Heather in the next few days. But I won't make any promises."

"Thank you."

--

"Marmine was actually _nice_?" Lisa asked after Buffy told her about the earlier conversation.

"Yeah. And he meant it. I guess Heather is his weak spot," Buffy said thoughtfully. "I've called Linda."

"And? Does she agree with Marmine's description of Mark's family?"

"Wholeheartedly." Sighing, Buffy took a long sip from the mug in front of her. "So did Mark. He didn't much care about his brother or his parents' ignorance of him. But Heather not answering his letters really hurt him."

Lisa leaned over and stroked her daughter's shoulder.

"I'm going to send her an email. I … I don't know if I want to meet her straight away. And with Marmine in the picture as well…"

"It doesn't make it any easier, does it?" Lisa asked gently. "Take it one step at a time. If she's indeed the sister Mark remembers from his childhood, then she'll understand."

"Thanks." Buffy smiled and tilted her head as she watched the far-away look enter her mom's eyes again. "So … got any news for me?"

"Huh?" Lisa looked up sharply and blushed brightly. "No?"

"Uh huh," Buffy said with a knowing grin. "So there's no spare room conversion in sight?"

Eyes opening comically wide, Lisa stared at her daughter. She had yet to tell her the news about her baby, but she simply didn't know how to approach it. Especially as she still couldn't remember the details on how she ended up pregnant in the first place. But judging by the knowing grin Buffy was giving her, she already knew anyway!

"How?" she whispered.

"We-ell," Buffy said, her eyes twinkling with mischief, "It all starts with the birds and the bees. And then-"

Groaning, Lisa covered her face with her hands. "I mean, how do you know?"

"Faith spilled the beans yesterday. She thought you'd told me already."

"You're not mad at me for not telling you?" Lisa asked fearfully.

Buffy shook her head. "Mom, I don't expect you to tell me everything immediately! I mean, sometimes you need time to think things through. And at other times you might not want to share at all. And that's fine with me. Really."

Lisa gave Buffy a lopsided smile. "And what do you think about it?"

"I'm happy, doofus! I mean, you just told me a few days ago how much you wanted another baby!" Buffy said with a laugh. "So, daddy House?"

Groaning, Lisa nodded her head. "I think so. I'm still drawing a blank on that stupid night!"

Giggling, patted her mom's shoulder. "I'm sure House's a bit miffed about your missing memory. Doesn't speak for his abilities, does it?"

"Not about the baby itself?" Lisa asked sceptically. "I've honestly no idea what he's thinking. Or what he wants from me, from the baby."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "I wouldn't worry. I mean he's House. He'll tell you exactly what he thinks eventually. Probably in the most inappropriate moment too."

"Thanks!" Lisa grumbled and hid her face in one of the sofa pillow. "That's very reassuring."

"Yep, that's what I'm here for," Buffy said with a straight face. Grinning, she added, "Though I wouldn't mind some details on the baby-making part either!"

"Ack!" Lisa took the pillow from her face and hit Buffy with it. "Stop it!"

After a playful pillow fight, both women slumped back into the couch. "Now," Buffy said, "Thanksgiving…"

--

Later that night, when Lisa was already fast asleep, her subconscious decided it was time for a little movie. And Lisa started to dream.

She was still blushing when she walked into her office.

Of course, House was already waiting.

Rolling her eyes, Lisa pushed the door open and looked pointedly at her watch. "Something wrong with your alarm?"

"Why, Dr Cuddy!" House said in mock-shock. "Now I'm hurt. Getting mocked for being on time!"

Walking passed him, Lisa put her coat away and switched on her computer. "What do you want?"

"Well, you see, I've got this bum leg and clinic duty always aggravates it further so I wondered-"

"No."

"No? But Cuddles!" House whined, stomping his cane onto the floor for good measure.

"Judging by your-" Lisa stopped for a second and started to blush furiously. "-extracurricular night-time activities, your leg is doing just fine!"

House stopped for a moment, then he started to grin. Widely. Waggling his eyebrows suggestively, he said, "I guess the blackout isn't so black anymore."

Lisa fought hard to keep the corner of her mouth from lifting and almost succeeded. Quickly looking down before he could see her smile, she shrugged her shoulders. "It was bound to happen sometime."

"Want to refresh that memory even more?" House asked nonchalantly. "I've got a bit of time … right about now."

"You've got a bit of clinic … right about now," Lisa deadpanned.

"Boring."

"I don't care." Eyeing him cautiously, she asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"And spoil all the fun?" he asked even though he knew she wasn't talking about their night together but her pregnancy in general.

"House." He shrugged his shoulders, playing with his cane as he watched her. Sighing, she said, "Dammit, I thought I was becoming menopausal! I couldn't remember having sex and you didn't talk to my belly either, how the hell was I supposed to know I was pregnant!?"

House stared at her – and started laughing. Hard.

Lisa leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her. "It's not funny."

House grinned. He got up without uttering a word and walked towards the office door.

"Clinic," Lisa reminded him darkly.

"Need to set up a college fund for the spawn first," House said seriously.

"Letting Wilson pay for your breakfast doesn't equal setting up a college fund," Lisa said unblinkingly.

"Duh! I obviously can't tell him what the money is really for, can I?" House challenged, knowing Lisa had yet to tell anyone but Buffy about her baby.

Rolling her eyes, Lisa shooed him out. At least with him gone she'd get some work done. Considering it was Thanksgiving in a couple of days, she had more than enough to do if she wanted to have the long weekend off.

And maybe the days off would help her sort through all the conflicting emotions running through her right now.

--

_A/N: I'm back! Well, I'm back for a week but I figured it might be helpful to write this chapter first before uploading it ;). Yeah, I know. It's a novel concept and all … Anyway. I'm not quite sure if I picked up that hot, male Muse or not – but ever since I'm back there's continues giggling in my Muse-space. And new stories start to emerge as well… Does that mean they are reproducing already?? I've no idea! Does anyone have experience with Muse-lationships and such things? _


	53. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

"How do I look?" Buffy asked nervously for the umpteenths time since her mom had come home from work. Buffy, on the other hand, had taken the whole day off afraid of using too much force on one of her patients due to her nervousness. "I'm not huge, am I?"

"No you're not," Lisa said like she had so many times today already. In person and over the phone. "In fact, you look stunning."

Buffy continued to walk up and down her mom's living room. "Do you think they'll be mad I'm not meeting them at the airport? Or that we meet here, not in my apartment?"

"Somehow I've got the feeling they'll forget about it as soon as they see you," Lisa said with a smile, pointing at Buffy's belly.

"Oh. Oh! Right."

"Calm down." Chuckling, Lisa led Buffy to her couch. "Sit down and relax. Everything will be fine." Lisa picked up Ante, who chose that very moment to stumble over Lisa's feet, and put her on Buffy's lap where the little cat immediately curled up against the baby bump and fell asleep.

Smiling, Buffy gently stroke Ante's head. "Thanks for letting her stay here until I move house."

"She's just too cute to resist," Lisa said with a smile. "Besides, we can't have her getting lost between all your boxes."

Buffy grinned. Then she looked at her watch again and sighed. They should be here any minute now.

--

"Faith!" Dawn was the first to see her. Quickening her pace, she made her way to the dark Slayer and hugged her. "How's Buffy holding up?"

"Nervous. Funny to watch," Faith replied just as quietly as Dawn's question had been. "And it gets even better!"

However, before Dawn could ask what Faith had meant, Xander, Willow and Giles had caught up with her and put their bags down as well. Several handshakes and awkward questions regarding Robin later, Faith picked up Dawn's bag and let them to her car. Well, Buffy's car really as she only had her motorcycle with her.

"Wow, nice neighbourhood," Xander said as they drove into Princeton.

"Yeah. So … un-Sunnydale-ish. I've barely seen any cemeteries since we left the airport," Willow added, leaning over to look out of Xander's window. She had been the slowest in claiming a seat in the car, so she had ended up between Xander and Dawn on the backseat.

"Yup, it's a nice retirement spot for B." Glancing at her watch, she did a quick calculation in her head. "Hotel first or do you wanna dive straight into dinner?"

"Hotel!"

"Food!"

"Buffy!"

Laughing out loud, Faith looked into the rear-view mirror, meeting Willow's eyes. "Red? Coin toss or direct route to Buffy?"

Willow leaned forward and patted Giles' shoulder. "Sorry, Giles." Turning towards Faith, she added, "Buffy, please."

--

Lisa grabbed Buffy's hand and stopped her from leaving the room. "Oh no. Front door's that way. And I might not have Slayer-hearing, but I'm pretty sure that's where the knock came from."

"I just wanted some fresh air," Buffy said with a pout.

"Sit." Lisa pointed at the couch before going to the front door. Because, if she didn't, Lisa might just join her and leave via the back door too. She hadn't seen Mr Giles in over 20 years and, even though they had recently spoken over the phone, was nervous about his reaction to seeing her again.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door – and was immediately engulfed in a hug from her other daughter.

Smirking, Faith stood back and watched the interactions unfold in front of her. She was pretty sure Buffy was hiding somewhere inside, probably ready to skip the whole meet-and-greet. She even remembered to bring her camera, Buffy's really, to hopefully get some blackmail-worthy pictures.

"Hi mom!"

Smiling at Dawn's enthusiasm, Lisa eagerly returned the hug. She also successfully ignored the first two polite coughs coming from behind Dawn. They were so unmistakable Mr Giles that she couldn't stop herself and she started giggling. Dawn whispering, "Think he's taken off his glasses yet?" didn't exactly help either. Laughing out loud, Lisa pulled back from Dawn and, for the first time, saw the other people waiting at her front door.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly when she realised she and Dawn had been blocking the door. Pulling Dawn with her, it never hurt to have a human shield after all, Lisa stepped to the side and let everyone enter. As Faith closed the door behind her, Lisa took a closer look at her daughters' friends – and Mr Giles.

"Mr Giles."

Rolling his eye, Xander gently pushed Giles forward, so anything but embracing Buffy's mom in a hug would make him look stupid. It looked awkward at first, but then Giles and Lisa relaxed.

Xander turned to Willow, grinning smugly. Willow just shook her head and slapped his arm. "Behave!"

"What? Look! Hug-age!" Turning to Faith, he asked, "Now, where's our Buff-ster?"

"Eating your dinner?" Faith said with a shrug, chuckling at the shock on Xander's face.

"Hiding," Lisa said with a smile. Winking at Dawn, she added, "And eating your dinner."

"Hey!" Buffy shouted from her newest hiding place. "I heard that, you know!"

Chuckling, Lisa pointed in the direction her daughter's pouty voice had come from. "Dining room."

Xander looked at them in worry. Then he grabbed Willow's arm and dragged her towards Buffy. "Hands off my food!"

Giles released a long-suffering sigh and shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if they'll ever grow up." Lisa and Dawn patted one of his shoulders each before following Xander and Willow at a more sedate pace.

--

Willow barely had time to take a closer look at Lisa Cuddy before Xander dragged her away to save his dinner. And, sure enough, when they entered the dining room, they found Buffy sitting at the far end of the dining table, a large plate with a very small piece of pie in front of her.

Looking over at Xander, she couldn't help but giggle as he stared open-mouthed at what once had to have been a very large piece of pie. Judging by the size of the plate and number of crumbs on it, anyway.

Seeing Xander's look, Buffy frowned and looked at the plate in front of her. Eyes opening up comically wide, she looked back at Xander and Willow. "Oops? I was just gonna do a bit of pie taste-age! Honestly!"

"Meow."

"Huh?" Xander blinked rapidly, stopping on his way around the table.

"Mee-ow!"

Willow watched Buffy look into her lap – she couldn't see it as the table was in her way – and seconds later the small head of a tabby kitten appeared over the edge of the table. And two small front paws quickly followed. "Mee-ow!"

"A kitten!" Dawn squealed from the door and rushed over to Buffy. She picked up the little tabby and cuddled her close. "Where did you get her?"

Buffy looked fondly at the small cat that was enjoying the thorough belly-scratch Dawn was giving her. "Faith found her a few weeks ago."

Meanwhile, Xander was still making an impressive fish-face. Chuckling, Lisa nodded towards her kitchen. "Don't worry. There are plenty more where that came from. Plus a few Twinkies someone insisted I stock up on."

"There are? And Twinkies?" Xander's one eye lit up in joy. "I think I'm _really_ gonna like you."

"Like her later, we haven't seen Buffy in ages!" Willow grabbed him and then dragged him around the table, pulling Buffy into a hug as soon as she reached her. Xander, feeling left out a teeny tiny bit, joined in only moments later.

"She looks good," Giles said quietly. Lisa nodded, giving him a small smile. "She's getting there."

Nodding knowingly, Giles squeezed Lisa's arm. Looking over to his young friends, Giles gave Lisa another long-suffering look before walking towards them, though he opted to stick with Dawn and the kitten and wait his turn to hug Buffy.

Faith, of course, didn't hold back and pushed passed them to get the best view – camera ready. Predictably, she didn't have to wait long for the action to start.

"Whoa!" Willow said when she realised just why the hug had felt so different. Pushing back slightly, she looked down towards Buffy's belly.

Xander turned to Willow but didn't let go of Buffy. "Whoa what?"

Instead of answering, Willow just stared in shock at Buffy. Then she squealed, "Oh my goddess!"

Still being clueless of what had caught Willow's attention, Xander followed his friend's examples and looked at Buffy's belly. "Whoa!" Xander jumped back as his voice went up several octaves. "That's _gotta_ be more than one pie in there!"

Buffy crossed her arms in front of her, looking darkly at Xander. "I'm _not_ fat!"

"Dear Lord!" Giles, finally having caught sight of Buffy's midriff when Xander jumped back, took off his glasses and started cleaning them furiously. "You're pregnant!"

"Pregnant?" Xander looked around the room in confusion. "You're having a _baby_?"

"No, of course not," Buffy said as if this was the most absurd idea ever. "I was more thinking of a puppy, myself."

Xander, ignored her last comment as if he hadn't heard it – which he really hadn't – and started to grin. Only a little bit at first, but it quickly grew until his eye was twinkling with happiness. Pulling her into a hug again, he lifted her off her feet and spun her around in a circle. "You're having a baby! Boy or girl? Did ya know Xander is a great name? Suppose you could go with Xandra if it's a girl. Want more pie?" With Buffy's feet still a couple of inches off the floor, he turned towards Lisa. "Pie? Where? Baby-Xander needs more food! Quick!"

"Baby _neither-Xander-nor-Xandra_ needs more space," Buffy said as she gently pushed against his shoulders.

Grinning sheepishly, Xander put Buffy back onto the floor – before staring at her in shock again. "Hey! He kicked me!"

Smiling, Buffy stroke her belly. "Told you so. Baby needs more space."

"You're happy?" Willow asked carefully.

Buffy smiled. Taking Willow's hand, she put it to where she felt her baby move last. "We're getting there."

--

The rest of the late afternoon, and evening, for that matter, went by quickly. Most conversation involved Buffy's baby and more than once could Buffy be seen to remove a tear or two from her eyes. Of course, whenever the conversation wasn't about the newest addition to their extended family, it was about Lisa Cuddy – and a very young Giles. One story from Lisa and the, albeit small amount of, awkwardness present at the beginning vanished amid fits of giggles and a very clean pair of glasses.

Then it was Giles' turn – and he told them a story about young Lisa. Considering they've all lived through something very similar – only with Buffy as the main character – the giggles kept coming. This time a pair of almost identical looking mother and daughter pouts accompanied them. Upon which Giles just shook his head and wondered out loud why he'd never ever made the connection before.

Seeing the guilt in his eyes, Buffy and Lisa sat on either side of him and hugged him. Ante, who happened to rest at the couch's armrest, scampered over and snuggled into Giles' lap. Smirking, Dawn pointed out even the little kitten knew it wasn't Giles' fault.

Reading the signs correctly, Faith just about managed to snap a picture of sandwiched Giles plus Ante before she saved the kitten from being crushed by the newly invented 'Mother-Daughter Giles' sandwich with a filling of Xander and Willow'. Chuckling, she made some more pictures, laughing at Ante's outright protests of being removed from her newly found comfy spot.

"You okay?" Faith shot Buffy a worried glanced while she drove them home a little while later. They had just dropped off Giles, Xander and Willow at their hotel while Dawn had decided to stay at her mom's place for some extra catching up. And more cuddling time with Ante.

Buffy blinked a couple of times, then she nodded.

"Afraid they'd turn around and leave again, huh?" Faith probed.

"Maybe. It isn't exactly something I could have easily forgotten to mention."

Faith parked the car and turned to her friend. "Don't worry. I can sense some serious talk-time coming up."

Buffy snorted. "You're _not_ helping!"

"Well … can't have you thinking I'm getting soft or something," Faith said with a grin. Patting Buffy's shoulder patronisingly, she continued, "Bedtime for mommy and baby. Fun-time for me. Want me to bring Baby a souvenir?"

"Like what? A demon tooth on a string?" Buffy asked as she opened her apartment door.

"Yup. Maybe a couple of claws too." Weaving around several already packed boxes, Faith picked up a couple of stakes and hid several knives on her body.

Buffy yawned widely. But that didn't stop her from showing Faith exactly what she though of her idea. Or, rather, her finger did.

With her friend's chuckles filling her ears, Buffy headed straight for her bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, after all.

--

_A/N: Uhm. __Sorry for the delay? But it's so not my fault! Honestly! The thing is, I was recently at a wedding reception and _I swear_ She-Muse and He-Muse were so much in awe of everything they saw, they went on a little vacation themselves! I haven't quite figured out if it actually was a honeymoon, but there was certainly lots of romance involved. They even forced me to read lots of books (only six, really) to them! … I don't think they had much time for eating either – They've mainly write me about food and eating since they came back… Oh well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one is already in the making too._


	54. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53 **

"Are you finished, yet?" Xander paced in Willow's bedroom, stopping occasionally to rock back and forth on his toes. "Don't want Buffy to eat all my Twinkies!"

There was a snort before the bathroom door opened and Willow poked her head out. "The more you ask, the longer it will take. Besides, Buffy doesn't like Twinkies."

"Hey, you're done!" Grinning, Xander opened the bathroom door and engulfed Willow in a big brotherly hug. "Or not."

Giggling, Willow watched Xander blush furiously when he realised that she was only wearing one towel. And that one was wrapped around her head.

Stumbling out of the bathroom with his good eye closed, Xander apologised sheepishly before he resumed his pacing and went back to their previous topic. "I know she doesn't like Twinkies that much - but she's pregnant! Pregnant women have cravings. Twinkie-cravings! So we have to hurry and save the poor things from pregnant-Buffy."

Sticking her head out again - though she was wearing some clothes this time as well - Willow asked innocently, "What about Dawn?"

That stopped Xander short and had him frantically running over to Willow's bed. Picking up the skirt and blouse she'd put out already, he literally pushed them into Willow's arms. "Dress! Quickly! I'll go and start the car!" Thinking of something even better, he picked up the phone and dialled a short number. "Giles? Hurry, get the car. Dawn's eating all my Twinkies. And Buffy is pregnant and might crave them too!"

Giles looked at the phone in confusion. Xander's voice had long been silent by the time his jag-lagged brain had caught up with the young man's babbling. Shaking his head at Xander's obsession with the sweets, Giles grabbed his stuff and the keys to their rental car and slowly made his way to the hotel car park.

Meanwhile, in Willow's room, Xander was still pacing. She knew it was mean, but Willow couldn't help herself and be particularly thorough as she got ready. "You're really looking forward to Buffy's baby, aren't you?"

"Yup. A little mind to shape just the way I like it..."

Willow laughed out loud. "Keep dreaming!"

"Yup!" Grinning, Xander poked his head into the bathroom again, checking if Willow was finally done. At least she was fully dressed now. Meeting her eyes in the mirror, he winked at her.

Brushing her hair a final time, there was only that much she could do to prolong the whole process after all, Willow sighed and left the bathroom. Sitting down on her bed, she tilted her head as she studied

Xander. "She looked happy, didn't she?"

"Yeah. And hungry."

Willow slapped his arm. Hard. "Stop it. I'm trying to be serious, okay?"

Sighing, Xander held up is hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'm listening."

"You're not mad she hasn't said anything before now? I mean, if we hadn't come here, we might not have learned of the baby for quite a while."

Xander sighed and sat down next to his oldest friend. Taking her hands in his, he shrugged his shoulders. "Of course I'm a bit disappointed. I mean, we are supposed to be best friends, right?"

Willow nodded.

"But the thing is we've all hidden stuff from each other now and then. Maybe we _had_ good reasons; maybe we just _thought_ we had. But we never did it to hurt each other, even if that's how it ended up. And Buffy, well, we all know how hard Mark's death had hit her so I'm more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it's Thanksgiving! All that food waiting to be eaten, fat belly's to be scratched and parades to be watched on the telly - there's no time for misgivings."

"But?"

"But once all that is done we're going to sit down and have a long chat," Xander finished.

"Wow." Willow pulled him into a hug before kissing him on the cheek. "You're all grown-up now."

"I know." Xander grinned and pulled something he'd saved from Lisa's house from his pocket. A pretty squashed Twinkie. "It's a scary thought, isn't it?"

--

Xander barely acknowledged Faith when she opened the front door of Lisa's house and went straight to the kitchen. Willow giggled while Giles just shook his head as they followed him at a more sedate pace. And this didn't change when they arrived either.

Xander was standing in front of an open cupboard and looked at its contents in shock. "But ... Where ... my... "

Dawn and Buffy were laughing so hard they had tears running down their faces and Lisa wasn't far behind. Waving at the newcomers, she patted Xander's shoulder. "Try three doors down."

When he did just that and revealed several packs of Twinkies, Willow joined into the laughter. Xander pouted but was quickly consoled by biting into one.

"You're gonna spoil your appetite," Willow pointed out between giggles before she told everyone of their earlier Twinkie-conversation.

Xander just shrugged his shoulders before having a closer look around the kitchen. His one eye lit up with excitement and he looked in every pot and pan he could find, enjoying the different smells of all the food cooking left, right and centre. He even whooped - in a manly way, of course - when he caught sight of the large turkey in the oven. There was no way he was going to go hungry today! Lisa smiled when he told her just that - and put him in charge of the mashed potatoes. He grumbled good-naturedly at having to work for his food but quickly gave up on it in favour of commenting on Giles' salad washing skills. And the nice apron he was wearing.

Dawn was put in charge of the deviled eggs and promptly had her hands full with preventing Buffy and Xander from stealing them while Willow was put in charge of the corn cobs. Once Lisa had delegated all the work, she shooed Buffy and Faith out of the kitchen as there was simply no more space left. Besides, they had been helping since early morning and Lisa knew Buffy was looking forward to putting her feet up for a while. And Faith, well, she had cut up all the vegetables for Lisa's veggie casserole with the biggest knife she could find. Not that Lisa had felt threatened by it, but with so many more people in her kitchen, Lisa thought it better than to have Faith play with her big knives.

One look at Buffy and Ante - who'd been thrown out of the kitchen as well - had Faith chuckling. Buffy had made herself comfortable on the couch and the way Ante cuddled up against her belly was just too cute. Shaking her head, Faith grinned and started to set the table. Not that she'd minded helping in the kitchen earlier or the impromptu cooking lesson Lisa had given them, but she still had problems showing that softer side to Willow and Xander. Besides, how were they going to eat if nobody set the table?

Eventually all food had been cooked and had found its place into the dining room. For the first time Lisa was glad to have bought such a sturdy and large dinner table. They stood as one at the entrance to the dining room and stared in awe at the sheer amount of food in front of them. Even the last bit of the table was covered with food filled platters and bowls.

"Yep, that might just be enough," Xander said wistfully, taking everything in as his mouth started to water already. "Ow!" he protested as everyone slapped him at once. "What? That was a compliment!"

"Uh huh," Buffy said, glaring at him.

Xander, putting on his best grin, pulled her into a hug. "Come on Buffster, when have I ever said there's enough food around?"

The corner of his mouth twitching slightly, Giles looked at Lisa. "He has a point. And translated into proper English it means there's far too much for all of us."

Blushing slightly, Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I went a bit overboard."

Dawn was quick to agree. Hugging her mom, she added, "And that's the best kind of Thanksgiving there is. Thanks."

Fighting with tears, Lisa sniffed once then pointed at the table. "I guess there's only one thing left to say - let's eat!" Standing back, she watched everyone - but Giles - rush to the table and fight for the best places. Stepping closer, Giles put an arm around her shoulder. "Dawn is right, you know. This is the best kind of Thanksgiving."

--

House parked his motorcycle and glanced at the cars in the driveway. Shrugging his shoulders, he grabbed his backpack and walked to the front door. He knocked a couple of times then leaned on his cane in front of him while he waited for the door to open.

Nothing happened. He could hear faint laughter coming from the inside of the house, so he knew the house wasn't empty. When nothing happened even after he knocked again, louder this time, he turned left and right, considering his options. Well, it wasn't really his fault nobody heard the door. Going for the easy options first, he checked all possible hiding places for the spare key within easy reach. He had almost run out of places to look when he found it.

Holding up the small key in triumph, he went back to the door and let himself in. House followed the voices and, once he reached their origin, took a long look around the room. Noticing all the various food on the table - from the traditional turkey to more than enough vegetarian options for Lisa - he smirked.

Xander saw him first. Or, rather, was the first to decide to do something about it. "Uh, Lisa? There's a guy standing in your doorway. He's grinning but somehow looks grumpy at the same time."

Eyes widening in alarm, Lisa was about to turn around to see for herself, when she caught sight of both her daughter's rolling their eyes. That were all the hints she needed. "House."

"Damn, you're good!" he said.

"There's only one grumpy guy in her life," Dawn pointed out helpfully while waving at him in greeting.

"Yep," Buffy continued without batting an eyelash. "All the other guys are much nicer."

Gasping in mock-shock, House covered his heart with his free hand. "Ouch!" Bending down, he grabbed his backpack again and pulled something out. Dropping it in Lisa's lap as he passed her, he went for the one place at the table where they could fit another chair in. Tapping his cane on the floor once, he pulled up a chair from the wall, "Move, oh mean and scary pirate you."

House raised an eyebrow when his target grinned at him rather than be offended. "The ladies like it just fine." Xander pointed at House's cane and added, "No need for extra toys."

Dawn, having checked with her mom first, quickly got another plate and cutlery for House. Standing behind House who was sitting directly opposite her mom, Dawn winked at her after she handed everything over. Then she leaned down and kissed House's cheek. "I've missed you."

It only took House a second to conceal it, but it was long enough for Lisa to see the honest surprise in his eyes. Smiling, she looked at the plastic bag in her lap. Opening it, she curiously looked inside - and was just as shocked as House had been only moments ago. Taking out the moderate sized box of chocolates, she looked at House. "Wow."

House being House just shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "Figured a couple of chocolates in exchange for a full-sized Thanksgiving dinner were fair enough."

Giles, who was sitting next to Lisa, leaned over and had a closer look himself. "Then why is the box open?"

Lisa opened the box, looked inside and sighed in resignation. This was much more like House. "And some of the chocolates are missing."

"What?" House asked innocently as he helped himself to a huge chunk of turkey. "There was a traffic jam on the way here and I figured you wouldn't want me fall off the bike from hunger."

Snorting, Xander shook his head as he shoved another spoonful of stuffing into his mouth. House, taking the snort as a challenge, snatched a piece of turkey from Xander's plate. Or tried to, anyway. But, just as he came close enough to actually snatch it, Xander's hand darted out and stopped him. Then, without even glancing at House, he moved House's hand out of the way and ate that particular piece of turkey himself.

House tilted his head as he watched his neighbour. He shouldn't have seen him, not with the eye-patch on this side. Unless ... well, he'd have to watch a little longer. But first there was food begging him to eat it. So, grinning at the task at hand, House dug in and just listened to the conversations going on around him. None of them seemed to mind his presence but rather accepted it with nothing more than a shrug. Even when he started to make comments - some more rude than others - did nobody seem to care about it. If anything, they just returned his comments with just as much bite behind it.

He really enjoyed it.

Not that he'd ever admit to it. Or admit that this was one of the best - if not the best - Thanksgiving meal he ever had. Putting yet another dumpling on his plate, he looked over at Willow. Only in his functions as Wilson's friend of course. After all, she'd been his friend's little cousin's girlfriend. So it was only fair he learned a bit more about her - simply to protect Wilson's interests as he was bound to wanting to meet her at some point. Smirking at his reasoning, House asked, "So, Red, whatcha do for a living?"

He might have looked forward to seeing some shock or disgruntlement at the nickname, but giggling all around the table certainly wasn't the answer he'd expected. Looking at Faith, he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Grinning, she said, "I've been calling her Red for years."

"Damn," House said in disappointment. "Well then, Red, whatcha doing for a living?"

"I'm working for the IWC," Willow replied sweetly, curiously waiting for his reaction. As did everyone else.

"The IWC? What..." House stopped mid-sentence and turned to Dawn. "How's the studying going?"

Frowning, House wondered why everyone was giggling again. He hadn't said anything funny, had he? Nudging Xander, he stage-whispered, "Are they on drugs or something?"

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Nope." Then he went back to the food on his plate, leaving House just as clueless as before. Of course, that didn't go down well with House so he tried to steal food from Xander's plate again. Only to have his hand stopped by him just like all the other times.

Taking pity on him - after all, House didn't know about the spell put on him so he'd forget anything meaningful involving the IWC - Dawn answered his earlier question. "School is going great. Giles even had me translate some very explicit Sumerian texts last week."

"What!?" Buffy narrowed her eyes and glared at Giles immediately.

Sighing, Giles just about resisted the urge to remove his glasses as he glared at Dawn. "I thought it was an important report and, well, apparently I was wrong."

Patting Giles' shoulder, Willow added, "I thought their descriptions were rather interesting."

"And graphic," Dawn added, winking at House. "Very detailed too."

Grumbling, Buffy threw her wadded napkin at Giles. "Stop corrupting my little sister!"

"What-!?"

It was all too much for Dawn and she broke out laughing. Moments later, the other women at the table joined in. Even Lisa.

Sighing theatrically, Xander offered House another beer. "Just go with the flow. I've known them for years and still don't get 'em sometimes. It's nothing personal." Pointing towards Giles, he added, "See G-man over there? He's finally given in and started cleaning his glasses. This means he's just as confused as us."

"I'm not confused." House protested immediately.

"You just don't know what they're talking about, I know." Xander grinned again before having a long look around the table, making sure he hadn't missed any of the dishes. "Though, if I had to guess I'd say they've all read Dawn's translation."

House's head shot up and he looked straight at Lisa. Giving him a coy smile, she said, "Very explicit indeed."

--

_A/N: Sorry about the slight delay, but I had to get a new laptop after my new old one died. And then I had to play with my new laptop. LOL. It's so shiny! _


	55. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

"Buffy, are you alright?" Lisa asked concerned. "Is something wrong with the food? Do you want something else?"

Buffy furrowed her brows as she continued to stare darkly at the still half-full plate in front of her. "No. I _wanna_ eat what's on my plate."

"Try putting in your mouth rather than staring at it," House suggested not so helpfully.

Growling, Buffy picked up a couple of corn kernels and threw them at the grinning House. "Baby moved and cuddled up to my stomach just after you arrived."

"Probably showing him his ass again," Faith commented dryly.

"What!?" Xander asked in confusion. Rolling her eyes, Faith explained how Baby always hid from House but didn't have any problems showing everything to Allison and Dr Morales only a few days ago.

"Smart kid," Dawn said between giggles.

Snorting, House pointed at Buffy. "It the kid were that smart, it wouldn't press on Buffy's stomach making her all grumpy."

Buffy threw some more corn kernels at him. Xander leaned back in his chair and patted his own full tummy. "I think he's just making sure there's enough space for dessert."

"And Twinkies," Willow said seriously.

"Hey!" Xander protested immediately. And Buffy's eyes suddenly lighting up didn't exactly help to ease his mind. "You aren't getting any Twinkies-cravings, are you?"

"Maybe?" Giggling at his shocked expression, Buffy shook her head. "But I'll do my best to resist 'cause I think you're right. Baby just moved slightly off my stomach when you mentioned dessert."

"See?" Xander said triumphantly, "That is one smart kid."

Meanwhile, House gave Lisa a calculating look. She had been awfully quiet throughout this latest bit of conversation and he had watched her closely throughout. Coming to a conclusion, he went as far as pondering for a couple of seconds if he should or shouldn't act. This in itself was a big step as usually he'd just have acted without thinking. However, one doesn't change suddenly so he leaned forward and picked up a slice of tender turkey breast. Then, instead of putting it onto his own plate, he aimed quickly and threw it onto Lisa's.

"Yes!" He raised his hands in triumph when the meat landed right where he had intended for it to land. On top of her leftover mashed potatoes.

"House!"

He looked innocently at his exasperated boss. "Cuddles?"

Growling, she said, "This is meat."

House looked up in surprise. "No, really?" He even went as far as scratching his head and looking at his own plate. Putting some turkey into his mouth, he chewed thoughtfully. "Yes. It's meat. Nicely cooked, too."

"I do _not_ eat meat."

Enjoying the proverbial steam coming out of her ears, House shrugged his shoulders. "You should. Maybe then you'd stop staring at the turkey like you were ready to swallow the whole thing at once."

Narrowing her eyes, Lisa gave House a withering look. "I am not staring at the turkey. You've probably overdosed on Vicodin again and are delusional." She looked at her plate in disgust and picked up the turkey with her fork, ready to move it over to Dawn's plate who'd silently offered to take it.

"Doesn't it just smell _delicious_?" House asked the very moment Cuddy lifted her fork and brought the offending piece of meat closer to her nose.

She couldn't help it - she inhaled deeply and almost whimpered at the scents attacking her nose. They were delicious indeed. Gritting her teeth, she deliberately forced her arm to move over to Dawn's plate. Then she looked up and smiled triumphantly at House.

House only smirked - and placed more turkey onto her plate.

Groaning in frustration, Lisa picked it up with her fingers and was about to throw it back at House when he spoke up again. "It's called a craving." That had her stopping short and looking at the turkey in her hand in utter disbelief.

"Turkey-cravings are much better than Twinkie-cravings anyway."

Intentional or not, Xander's comment had several heads snap up and stare at Lisa and House in surprise. "Cravings? Are you...?" Dawn put her own and Giles' thoughts into words.

"Pregnant." House said casually. "Yep. And the parasite wants meat." Looking pointedly at Lisa, he said, "Eat."

"You're pregnant?" Dawn squealed in delight and punched the air in joy. "When? How? Never mind - I get to be a big sister!"

Smirking, Buffy patted her mom's shoulder. "Told you he would choose an inappropriate moment to spill the beans."

Groaning, Lisa leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes. Yes, House couldn't have chosen a worse moment. She was getting to know the people her daughter grew up with. And then there was Giles. He'd barely been back into her life and she was pregnant again. She absently lifted her hand and bit into the food she was still holding. Her eyes snapped open the moment the turkey hit her taste buds. Naturally, she found herself at the receiving end of House's smirk. Huffing, she turned to Dawn and forced a smile on her face. "Yes, I'm pregnant."

"Sweet!" Dawn squealed again. "So, who's the daddy? Why isn't he here? Is he nice? Can I meet him?"

Giles reached over and put his hand over Dawn's mouth to shut her up. He gave Lisa and apologetic smile. "Sometimes this is the only way to shut her up. I should know. Anyway, congratulations."

"Thanks."

Dawn, having managed to pull Giles' hand off her mouth, glared at him before turning back to her mom. "So, the dad?"

"Dawn," Buffy said quietly, though everyone could hear the warning.

Lisa smiled at her daughter. "It's alright. Besides, it's technically Giles' fault."

Giles did the only appropriate thing in answer to that statement - he choked on a dumpling. Xander helpfully slapped his back while Giles coughed up a storm. "Way to go, G-Man!"

House raised his eyebrows while all the women seemed have a laughing fit. He wouldn't admit to it - even to himself - but deep inside, he felt hurt by the suggestion someone else was the parasite's sperm donor.

"I had nothing to do with it!" Giles protested as soon as he stopped coughing long enough to breath and speak.

Now it was time for Lisa to pat his shoulder. "Remember when you called me and I asked at the end if you had some ... news?"

Giles frowned at first but nodded when he realised what she had meant.

"It left me ... shaken. And the waiting didn't really help either. At one point I just needed to get out - and ended up pregnant," Lisa admitted sheepishly. Seeing the worry in Dawn's eyes, she squeezed her daughter's hand reassuringly. "I know the dad. Our relationship is just ... complicated."

Chuckling, Faith winked at House. Turning to Lisa and Giles, she said nonchalantly, "So every time you two meet Lisa ends up pregnant?"

Giles stuttered again while Lisa, seeing the fun in the situation, nodded. "Yeah, I think he's my fertility goddess or something like that."

Spluttering was now accompanied by furious glasses cleaning.

House frowned and took a closer look at this Giles. He seemed genuinely flustered and by the earlier interactions within the group he'd say he was something like a father figure to all of them. Including Lisa Cuddy. "How did you meet?"

"Giles was my mentor for a while when I was a teenager," Lisa explained.

"He also was our high school librarian," Buffy said just as casually.

"Enough of that," Dawn said as she stopped chewing on her lower lip. "We've got more interesting things to discuss. Like who that complicated friend of mom is. Cause, honestly, the only person coming to my mind is sitting at this table too."

Lisa blushing furiously was all the confirmation Dawn needed to go back into squealing mode. "Oh my god! It's House! He's the daddy!"

Somehow knowing denying wouldn't really help him, House went with looking smug. Until he met Giles' eyes. He had suddenly stopped being the father figure but looked rather dangerous. Intrigued by the sudden change, House leaned forward and stared right back.

Faith leaned over to Buffy and whispered, "Gotta love the Ripper coming out."

"You better not hurt her," Giles eventually said in a dangerously low voice. "Either of them."

And, just like that, the tension around the table dissolved as if it had never been there.

--

Just as Xander had predicted, by the time the main course made way for dessert, Buffy's baby had moved again to allow her to eat more - which made for a much happier Buffy. Until Xander complemented Lisa on the pecan pie. Suddenly, tears started to pool in her eyes and she jumped up and rushed out of the room.

Conversations stopped mid-sentence and everyone stared after Buffy. Lisa and Giles got up almost immediately to rush after her. Putting a hand on Lisa's shoulder, Giles silently asked for permission to go after Buffy himself. Dawn quickly took her mom's hand in her own and nodded. Sighing, Lisa agreed and sat down again.

House, never really worried about other people's feelings, asked, "What's all that about?"

Lisa glared at him through narrowed eyes while Dawn said quietly, "I think it just hit her that Mark's not here."

"She'll get over it."

Of course, that didn't really go down well with everyone else at the table and he soon found himself at the receiving end of several angry glares. "What? She's stubborn, bossy even. She's got a great mom and friends who actually care. She's going to be fine."

While Xander and Willow still stared at him, giving him the impression they were planning his demise, did Lisa, Dawn and Faith share a thoughtful glance. Faith, hearing Willow starting to whisper what suspiciously sounded like an incarnation, quickly put her hand on Willow's shoulder. "Red," she said the most serious she'd been all day, "Coming from House, this was a compliment."

"She's right," Dawn quickly added, seeing the signs of Willow starting a spell as well. Then she looked at House. "He actually cares."

"I do not!" House said quickly. Too quickly.

"Even though he'll never admit to it," Lisa added with a small smile.

--

Giles found Buffy at the very end of the backyard, standing with her back to the house.

He slowly approached her, making sure she would hear him doing so. She didn't move. Feeling her lose the fight against the tears as soon as he put a hand on her shoulder, he wordlessly pulled her into a hug, draping the blanket he'd brought from the living room around her as well.

Giles let Buffy cry herself dry, occasionally whispering words of comfort into her ear and stroking her back reassuringly. As nobody else was looking, he also shed a tear or two of his own for the loss of Mark but mainly for his hurting friend.

"Sorry," Buffy said once her tears had stopped. She tried to push herself away from Giles, but he just held her tighter. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

She sniffled and nodded into his shoulder. "I just miss him so much."

"I know." Giles pushed back slightly and looked into her eyes. "And for a while you forgot and were happy - and then the memory rushed back full force."

Tears started to run down her cheeks again and Buffy angrily wiped them away. "Stupid hormones."

Smiling, Giles kissed her forehead. "He'd be proud of you, you know?"

"You think?" Buffy asked quietly, almost pleadingly.

Giles hugged her tight again. "Oh yes, absolutely. You're building a new life for you and the baby. You've found family, friends ... and House."

Buffy giggled. "He's something else, isn't he?"

"He and Lisa?"

"Way complicated," Buffy said. "Trust me. But fun to watch." Inhaling deeply, Buffy let the smell that was so unmistakably Giles engulf her like a security blanket. "You're not mad?"

Giles was quiet for a long time. Then he kissed her forehead again. "I was disappointed at first. But now, now I think I understand."

"Care to enlighten me? Because I'm not so sure myself," Buffy said drolly.

Chuckling, Giles led Buffy back towards the house. "Like I said before, you're building a new life for you and the baby. Your priorities changed. In fact, it's been slowly happening for a long time now. Slaying isn't the most important thing anymore and you needed to physically step back from everything connecting you to it. It's ... it's like having to cut the proverbial umbilical cord in order to grow up without your parents' interference. Only it wasn't the umbilical cord connecting you to your parents but the one to us. Me, Xander, Willow and everything we represent."

"That's ... Thanks." Buffy hugged him tightly. "How come you sometimes can make more sense of my jumbled thoughts than I?"

"Practice, Buffy. A lot of practice," he said with a long-suffering sigh.

Giggling, Buffy stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I love you. You know that too, right?"

Ignoring his own blush, he nodded. "I love you too. Even if it means a lot of grey hairs."

"Hey!" Buffy slapped his arm good-naturedly before snuggling deeper into the blanket around her shoulders. "Besides, grey hair is Dawn's speciality."

"It most certainly is." He opened the backdoor and stepped aside so Buffy could enter. "Do you know if it's a boy or girl?"

"Yep. And House doesn't. It's driving him crazy."

"You'll be fine, Buffy. You'll be fine," Giles said fondly before opening closing the door behind him.

--

"Brownies, anyone?" Dawn asked as she brought another plate from the kitchen.

House tilted his head and looked at the young woman. "Did you make them?"

Dawn shook her head and chuckled. "Nope."

"I'll have one," House said immediately and took the offered plate from Dawn.

"Me too," Xander added without delay. Once the brownies were devoured, Xander looked up. "Yummy."

"Thanks," Lisa said sweetly. "I've got the recipe from Dawn."

Xander stopped just as he was ready to get another one. Glaring at Dawn who was laughing hysterically, he opted for another piece of apple pie instead. House, however, just shrugged his shoulder and took another one. Tilting his head, he looked at his neighbour. "What, afraid of a bit of blue pee?"

Giving an impressive fish-imitation, Xander pointed at House. "You... you've corrupted our Dawn-ster!"

Dawn shrugged her shoulders unimpressed. "At least my food stopped from vanishing afterwards."

"Sounds like self-defence to me," House said nonchalantly.

"So the physiotherapy department was self-defence too?" Lisa asked with raised eyebrows.

"Huh?" House asked innocently. Lisa, seeing the confused looks, quickly told everyone about the majority of the department suddenly suffering from blue pee disease. Even Xander had to admit that this was a good one.

Moments later, Buffy and Giles returned. Lisa quickly got up to embrace her daughter and make sure she was alright. Once they were back at the table, Buffy hungrily tugged into the forgotten pie on her plate.

No matter how good the food, there was a point when everyone was too full to eat even one more crumb and the party moved to the living room to slouch in front of the telly and relax. Even House joined in, too fascinated by Buffy's friends to just go home without figuring them out.

By now he was pretty convinced Xander's eye-patch wasn't just for fun but that there was a medical reason behind it. More so, Xander was so well adapted, it couldn't be a new development either. Which lead to a whole bunch of other questions apart from the obvious _'What happened?_' of course. If he lost his eye, then why was he wearing an obvious eye-patch rather than an artificial eye? It would be much less obvious this way. Or would it? Was there some nasty scaring around the eye - which would be interesting in itself.

"Meow."

House tried to ignore Ante and go back to analysing the people around him but the kitten had other plans. "Mee-ow!"

He pushed himself off the back of the couch and leaned forward. Looking down, he saw Ante sitting in front of his good leg - the other one was resting on the couch table in front of him - and looking at him with big eyes. "Meow."

"I'm busy." House took a sip from his beer and leaned back again.

Moments later, he felt something hit his leg. "Mee-ow."

Rolling his eyes, he leaned forward again in time to see Ante run towards his leg and jump. She meowed in triumph when she got half-way up his leg and quickly extended her claws to hold onto House's jeans. Then, very carefully, she lifted one paw and experimentally moved it upward. When she realised she wasn't falling off, she repeated the movement with another paw and slowly crawled her way up House's leg. Too stunned to say anything, he could only watch the kitten's progress.

"Meow."

Chuckling, House shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. Great job. Now be quiet, I'm trying to think."

Ante tilted her head, then made her way up House's leg and snuggled into his lap, looking at him expectantly. Rolling his eyes, he started to scratch her head. The next moment he looked up and found himself staring straight at Lisa. Smiling, she nodded at the kitten. "Better watch out or I might think you're getting soft."

House did the only sensible thing. He stuck out his tongue at her.

--

Before long, it was time for everyone to depart. House, of course, argued that he had too much to drink and couldn't drive home. A cab wouldn't do either as he'd then be left without his motorcycle. Faith, knowing Buffy wanted to spend the night, simply stepped up behind him and stuck her hand into his jeans pocket. Moments later, she held up his keys. "I'll drive."

"Damn."

Shrugging, Faith grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door. "Behave and I'll steal you some leftovers."

Giles, Willow and Xander departed as well, leaving mother and daughters to themselves.

"So," Dawn said as she flopped down on the couch again. "Baby House, huh?"

Groaning, Lisa sat down next to her. "I'm never gonna hear the end of it, am I?"

"Nope." Grinning, Dawn pulled her mom into a hug. "I think it's great."

"Me too." Buffy said as she flopped down on the other side. Leaning into her mom, she said, "Thanks for a great Thanksgiving."

Kissing Buffy's forehead, Lisa said, "It's a family thing, you know."

Smiling, Buffy nodded.

"Yep. We are family," Dawn said.

"Not necessarily blood related, but family." Buffy added. "And as strange as it sounds, House fits right in."

Lisa laughed out loud. "Yeah, and it scares me like crazy." Leaning forward, she handed Buffy and Dawn their glasses containing orange juice before taking her own. Lifting it, she said, "To family."

"To family," Buffy and Dawn replied in unison before downing the juice and snuggling back into their newfound mother.

--

_A/N:__ Well ... uhm ... you know ... this is the last chapter?_

*hides in hidden hide-out*

_Okay, okay. There's gonna be an epilogue to wrap up some more things (feel free to remind me __and my naughty muses of bits and pieces that need to be included)._

_And there's gonna be a sequel for all of us (yes, including me) who want to know how House would handle the supernatural... _


	56. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Sighing deeply, Lisa picked up the ringing phone. "No House, you can't come with us."

There was a pause and the corners of Lisa's mouth started to move upwards.

"I was just offering a ride to the airport."

"Su-ure," Lisa drawled out while rolling her eyes at her grinning daughter. Then, to share the fun, she put the phone on speaker.

"Do you have any idea how much they charge for long-time parking?" House asked in mock-indignation. "That's extortion at its best!"

"It's my money."

"Exactly! You could spend it on so many other things."

"Like what? Presents?" Lisa asked drolly.

"Well, now that you're offering..." They could hear him take a swig from a bottle.

Buffy winked at her mom. "I've heard they can do magic with tweed over there."

On the other end of the phone, House almost spit his beer out. "Funny. Very funny."

"Yup. Anyway, Baby and I are off to bed. Bye House, see you next year."

Buffy heaved herself off the couch and, after kissing her mom's cheek, went to bed - only to be woken by her alarm moments later. Groaning, she barely withstood the urge to throw it against the wall. Grumbling, she got up and got ready for the day. Still complaining quietly, she made her way to the kitchen and frowned as she saw two coffee mugs sitting on the counter. Unlike her mom who experienced outright cravings for coffee, Buffy preferred juice in the morning. Raising a questioning eyebrow, she nodded towards the second mug while accepting a glass of orange juice.

"Morning!" House said cheerfully from the door. "Ready to go?"

Groaning, Buffy turned to Lisa. "Mo-om."

"Sorry. He wouldn't stop begging and then I realised I could do with another good deed, you know, with it almost being Christmas and all." Lisa said apologetically.

Ignoring House's protests against the good deed, Buffy patted her mom's shoulder. "I suppose you're right. Another act of kindness can't hurt."

--

By the time they reached the airport House had stopped grumbling about the stupid good deed and was scarily charming again.

"Uh ... you just missed the drop-off zone," Lisa said in a resigned voice.

"Yeah. The police doesn't care that I'm a cripple, they frown upon me parking in the drop-off zone," House replied while entering a parking garage.

"That's because you're supposed to drop us off, not come in with us," Buffy pointed out.

House gasped in mock-shock, pressing a hand to his heart. "I wouldn't be able to look myself in the eyes anymore if I would allow two pregnant women to carry their entire luggage all by themselves!"

Ignoring the simultaneous snorts, House parked the car and got out, taking in the parking lot. House spotted a gangly teenager two rows down and shouted, "Hey, you! Kid pretending to be a grown-up!" He waited till the boy looked in his direction. Waving a few banknotes, he continued, "Yes, you! Could you grab a trolley for me? Seeing how I'm a poor cripple and my two ladies are pregnant?"

The teenage boy did his best to look uninterested, so House did some more money waving. Eventually, the boy shrugged his shoulders and trotted over to where the trolleys were parked. House grinned at Lisa and Buffy while stuffing his money back into his pocket.

Shaking her head, Lisa got her purse out and removed money to give to the teenager. Smiling openly at him, she said, "Don't mind our driver over there, the poor guy was born grumpy."

The boy grinned back and offered to load their bags from the trunk onto the trolley. Lisa gave him another wide smile and, blushing only a little, the boy transferred their bags. Curious, and maybe a bit worried, his parents had made their way over and Lisa kept her smile in place and praised their son for being a great help.

Meanwhile, House was standing back and pulling faces at them behind their backs. Buffy, being in the perfect spot of observing all of them, quietly chuckled to herself, wondering how House would react to their check-in. There was no doubt in her mind he was only coming along so he could find out where exactly they were going. Apparently _'Europe'_ wasn't a satisfying answer to him. Especially as she had connections to Italy and England.

And, as soon as they entered the terminal building, her assumption proved to be right.

"So, what plane are we looking for?" House asked in a bored voice.

Buffy shrugged, fighting hard to keep a straight face. "None of them."

"Huh?"

Lisa stepped up next to him and patted his shoulder. "We're taking a private plane."

"Yeah, Faith is flying in from Cleveland, picking us up," Buffy added helpfully.

"Damn." Grinning, he shook his head in disbelief. They truly had outmanoeuvred him. For now.

Sighing, Lisa became serious again. "I'm sorry."

House held her eyes for a long time before he nodded. Though, he figured it wouldn't hurt to make a few calls. There were so many unanswered questions surrounding Buffy and her friends. And then there was Dawn, who he couldn't help but like. And he just knew there was a whole new story behind her calling Lisa '_mom_' as well. Oh, he knew Lisa hadn't given birth to her. He had made sure of that by taking a very thorough look at her past. He'd even come up with a picture of a very young, very pregnant Lisa Cuddy. Still, every instinct screamed at him that, when it came to Dawn and Cuddy, there was more to the story then they had told him. They even looked more alike than Buffy and Cuddy!

But, watching Buffy and Cuddy vanish through a door that remained closed for him, he promised himself he would find out.

And, until then, he'd have to find another way to keep their Christmas interesting. And, incidentally, his as well.

--

The IWC headquarter in Rome was filled with lots of laughter. It was Christmas Eve, after all. Buffy, Dawn and Lisa were enjoying their first Christmas together with the supernatural side of their extended family.

First of all, there was Giles who, more than anyone else enjoyed seeing mother and daughter reunited. And who, according to Buffy and Lisa, was expected to act as their babies' grandfather - and no amount of glasses cleaning and throat clearing or similar would get him out of it. But, no matter his reaction, this was the best present the two women could have made him.

Then there were Willow and Xander who had finally accepted Buffy's need of stepping back from the supernatural world, even though they themselves were now more involved than ever. Thanksgiving had been the final eye-opener and they've never looked back since then.

They had kept Buffy company the previous night when she was wide awake during her first night back in Italy courtesy of a bout of jetlag - amongst other things. After a movie marathon and lots of junk food, they had agreed on a completely new start. Shyer than Buffy had seen Willow in a long time, she had offered to teach the baby all aspects of modern computing and whatever else was needed - no witchcraft involved. Xander had jumped onto the train immediately, announcing he'd be responsible for teaching Baby everything about the evilness of clowns and the art of Scooby-ness. Touched by their seriousness, Buffy had shed a tear or two and assured them Baby would love to spend time with Auntie Willow and Uncle Xander.

Later, when Xander had succumbed to sleep, Buffy had brought up Wilson. Predictably, Willow hadn't been impressed at all. Not only with his treatment of Buffy but also with his abandonment of Tara and her mom. It had taken Buffy quite a while - and another tub of ice-cream - to convince Willow that rushing to Princeton-Plainsboro and confronting him in anger wasn't the right thing to do. And, by doing so, she had finally accepted that Wilson really wouldhave done something if he had known. In the end Buffy had suggested Willow should think about getting in contact with him and see from there - not unlike she was doing with Heather. Willow had grumbled some more but promised to sleep on it and, even if she wasn't going to contact him, she wasn't going to do anything to him either.

Then there were Robin and Faith. They had realised their relationship had changed and their fighting had come from trying to hang onto it for the wrong reasons. And, against all odds, they had become friends and were working together better than before. When Buffy had questioned her sister-slayer in a quiet moment about it, Faith had just shrugged her shoulders and commented rather pitifully that she appeared to have grown up. Then she had spoiled the image by telling Buffy about the extended _'adult exercise session'_ she had with Robin to mark the end of their intimate relationship. Buffy had snorted and told Faith that she didn't need to worry, she was never going to grow up completely - and that House was off limits. Faith had pouted at first but then she had started laughing and said that it was _him_ Buffy should tell this, not her - which had Buffy in giggles as well.

Well, and then there was House. Though he wasn't there in person, he was very much ... by telephone, calling Lisa several times a day. Though, by now everyone was looking forward to his calls as they always proved quite entertaining. He was always complaining about one thing or another.

His leg was hurting and he needed a new prescription for Vicodin.

His leg was hurting and he needed to see his physiotherapist.

His leg was hurting and he needed some distractions.

There were in the middle of their meal when the phone rang again. Looking at the caller-ID, Lisa just rolled her eyes and held it up for everyone to see. "Anyone feel like talking to an annoying, often misanthropic bastard?"

Willow put her wine down and winked at Lisa. "How's he coping with babbling?"

Laughing out loud, Lisa held out the phone for Willow. "Let's see."

"Hi Greggie. This is Willow. I'm sorry, but Lisa is busy snogging a gorgeous guy in the corner. And when I say gorgeous I mean gorgeous in a I could forget I'm gay kinda way and go and grab him for myself. You know that European type. Tall, tanned, amazing green eyes and smart. Wow, I can already feel the gayness leave my body. Oh, I hope your leg isn't hurting 'cause I can't do anything about it. And Lisa can't do anything about it either, seeing how she's busy. But I'm sure Buffy could call the hospital for your and have them send a physiotherapist over? Anyway, what are you doing for Christmas? Have you got some mistletoe around? 'Cause we have and ... well, I guess I mentioned Lisa being busy. But did I mention there's mistletoe involved? 'Cause I think I didn't. So yeah, she's kissing under the mistletoe." Willow sighed deeply, winking at Lisa who was trying hard to contain her laughter. "Uhm, Greggie? You're still there? Oh goddess, I've been babbling again, have I? I'm so sorry, it always happens when I get excited. And the temperature in this room suddenly spiked so ... wow. Yeah. Sorry. How's your leg?"

Willow had barely finished with her last, innocent question before everyone in the room broke out laughing.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the phone, House was staring at it in half-disbelief. "Don't you ever breathe?"

"I think it's mostly overrated," Willow answered nonchalantly. "Have a nice Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," everyone else shouted before Willow hung up.

House couldn't help it, he smiled. Oh yeah, Buffy's friends were more than interesting. Which meant next year was going to be a good one.

--

Buffy was watching the sun rise in the distance, a single tear running down her cheek.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered as her eyes focused on the grave in front of her. Mark's grave. It was in the cemetery of a small village just an hour outside of Rome, a village she and Mark had come to love. And not only because vampires and demons seemed to mostly avoid it.

Wrapping her coat tighter around her, she carefully kneeled down and gently stroked the headstone. "You are going to be a daddy soon. I promise we'll never forget you."

Buffy closed her eyes and let her head sink to her chest, trying to think of all the good times she had with Mark.

Later, a bird was making its presence known in the distance, putting a small smile on Buffy's lips as she remembered the very night this baby had most likely been conceived. In their secret spot, only minutes away from here. Mark had promised her a special night and - amidst a picnic and a night under the stars it had become more special than either of them could ever have imagined.

The smile remained on her face as she opened her eyes again and started to tell him all about her mom. Their first meeting - even though Lisa didn't know about Buffy then. _His_ baby deciding to interfere and leading her directly to her mom's house before assaulting her bladder in such a way that she really needed to pee. _His_ baby surprising her by bypassing her brain and going directly through her mouth - asking her mom what she thought about grandchildren!

"And then there's House." Buffy chuckled as she told Mark all about House's antics. "But don't worry, mom and I have him under control. Mostly." Buffy frowned and tilted her head as she looked at the headstone. "Though I need to keep an eye on Dawn. Her spending too much time with House would so not be of the good!"

Buffy continued to tell him about the house she bought and moved in less than a month ago. She told him about decorating the baby's room with her mom and the redecoration party she had with her new friends from the hospital. This, of course, led to more talk about her job. And, inevitably, Marmine. "Can you believe the nerve of him? I could have been utterly crap and he'd still have found a way to employ me!" Buffy took a few calming breath before continuing more quietly. "But he was right in one thing. Heather did miss you.

"I know, I know. She never replied to your letters, simply sent them back unopened. But Linda met her at a family thing, one thing led to another and they realised their stories didn't add up. It seems like Heather never got your letters. Once she'd moved out, she'd only see the odd Christmas card. Can you believe it? Guess your parents figured once you were dead to them, you were dead to the rest of the family too."

Buffy shook her head in anger. "How could they do that to their own flesh and blood?"

The question hung in the air, unanswered.

With a sigh, Buffy opened her bag and removed a plastic box. Opening it, she showed the contents - half pasta, half olives - to the headstone before tucking in. "I _so_ blame you for this. Olives! I _hate_ olives. But Baby loves them. Just like daddy."

Once the food was eaten, she patted her stomach with a smile. "Right, Heather. Well, I've been in contact with her recently. Emails only. After everything that happened - Marmine, your parents, and your brother - I'd rather take it too slow than too fast. You know, she reminds me of the Heather of your childhood stories. In fact, she told me some stories that sounded vaguely familiar - only you didn't look quite as smart as in your own recollections."

Buffy giggled. She gently stroked her belly in an attempt to quieten her baby. "Judging by the ruckus our baby is making right now, I'm not the only one finding this rather interesting! Anyway, I think Heather and I could become friends. I know it means a lot to you, knowing you weren't so wrong about her after all. Knowing she always cared. Knowing losing contact with you hurt her as much as it did you." Buffy took a deep breath, realising that telling Mark about it had paved the way to finally make the decision. A decision that had already been slumbering in the back of her mind for a while. "I'm ready now. I'll meet with her when I get back."

Sensing rather than seeing the presence of another person, Buffy turned and smiled when she noticed her mom standing close by indecisively.

"Mark, I want you to meet mom." Buffy stood up and held out her hand, waiting for Lisa to take it. Hesitantly at first, Lisa eventually stepped closer. "Hi."

"Can you believe it? I'm going to be a big sister again!" Grinning mischievously, Buffy pointed at her mom's small belly. "Guess I should have kept an eye on her and House too, huh?"

It didn't matter they were standing in the middle of a small cemetery, talking to a headstone - Lisa blushed brightly at Buffy's comment. Buffy chuckled. "She's a bit shy, you know."

"I'll show you shy!" Lisa said as she started to tickle Buffy's sides.

Buffy laughed and Lisa couldn't help but smile at the happiness in her daughter's voice. She'd been worried at first, Buffy alone on the cemetery - not because of the night-life, this was taken care off - but because of the effect it might have on her. She hadn't been at Mark's grave since she moved to the States and Lisa had simply worried it would overwhelm her. But it obviously hadn't. If anything, Buffy seemed more relaxed, more at peace.

Sobering up a bit, Lisa put a single white lily on the grave. "Thanks for taking care of my baby when she needed it the most."

"Mom."

Smiling lopsidedly, Lisa hugged her daughter to her side. "But it's the truth, isn't it?"

Buffy closed her eyes and nodded. "My lifeline. My rock in a crazy and cruel world."

"And he'll always be. Right here. And here." Lisa put her hand on Buffy's heart, then moved to her belly. "Just like you always had and always will have a place right here." Taking Buffy's hand, Lisa pressed it onto her own heart.

Buffy turned her head away when tears started to shimmer in them. Having quite a few tears of her own running down her cheeks, Lisa chuckled and gently turned her daughter's face towards her again. "Now look at us, feeling all emotional and crying all over the place. Do you think we could get away with blaming it on hormones?"

Buffy shrugged her shoulders, trying to look away again. Moments later, a robin settled on top of Mark's headstone, chattering away.

Lisa tilted her head and raised an amused eyebrow. "Is it just me or is that robin scolding us?"

Snorting, Buffy wiped the tears from her cheeks. "It's something Mark would do."

Looking rather smug, Lisa nodded pleased. "Told you he'll never go away completely."

"I know," Buffy said quietly. "It's just ... he'd become the most important person in my life, and I've lost him again."

Lisa hugged her daughter, kissing the top of her head. "I know. But I also like to think you found some important things ... _people_ ... too."

The robin changed its tune to a cheerful melody the moment Buffy started to smile.

--

_A/N: Phew. That's it. Finished. __I finally got to tick that box! And it took me (and Muse) only a bit over a year to write it. Wow. It certainly has been interesting. With Muse running off. Or Author running off. Naturally at different times. Muse bringing back another Muse. Of the opposite sex. I think. LOL. Anyway, a big __**Thank You!**__ to all my readers, especially those who left a review. And especially 'specially those who did so repeatedly. As in over and over again! I can't say how important they were in helping me getting to this point! I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did._

_Anyway, sequel. I already mentioned it would have House being introduced to the supernatural. Though I have to warn you, neither She-Muse nor He-Muse have told me just how exactly this is going to happen (in a hopefully halfway believable way) - so it might be a while. Even though I usually don't have a detailed outline for writing a story, I do have a very, very, very vague idea of where it's going. Or rather a bunch of important scenes floating around my head. But, seeing how it is summer and all this, these important scenes are still on vacation (with at least half of my brain, honestly). Uhm, would it be comforting to know that I've already got sequel-scenes for my other story floating around? No? Well, I won't mention it then. _

_Okay. I've been lying. Sorry. I just checked. There are some scenes around already (I just forgot ... brain on vacation and all that - thankfully it's all written down). There just isn't enough for a proper storyline yet. But - there's hope! Ha! Besides, how am I supposed to live without all those reviews? They're almost as good as chocolate. Which happens to be the stuff my muses run on. LOL. So, see you soon(ish)!_


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